Reluctant Grace
by ladygris
Summary: Dr. Grace Edgington came to Atlantis with high hopes for her future. Instead, she found that life has a way of throwing obstacles in your path. Lorne/OC. Romance with some sci-fi medical BS in there too. Please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the Stargate: Atlantis or SG-1 or any of it's characters. Neither do I own Privateer Press, Games Workshop, or any of their characters.

**Author's Note**: This piece was written purely to get an idea out of my head. It has turned into something more, and I am close to completing the entire thing. It may take a while since I'm also working on another SGA story, "Atlantis Prelude." As always, review and let me know what you think.

The mission could not have gone better. Major Evan Lorne considered this as he followed his tired men to the mess hall. They'd been back on Atlantis long enough to shower and debrief, but all of them were hungry. Reconnaissance missions worked up an appetite, especially when they left before most of the expedition's alpha crew awoke.

"Check it out." Chris, the man who had been on his team the longest, nodded toward a table in the corner. Lorne followed his nod. Dr. Keller sat across from a dark-haired woman, but it wasn't Keller who drew the attention. Or the woman. It was her hair. Long and dark, it hung in large curls to her waist. Lorne's eyebrows rose. No matter what she looked like, that hair had to be an amazing sight when blowing in the wind.

Jason Miller, the newest man on the team, frowned. "Wait a minute. I know that hair."

Lorne turned, intent on asking him to clarify his statement, but Jason had already headed across the mess hall. Lorne could do nothing but follow.

Miller stopped at the end of the women's table. "Excuse me?" When the dark-haired woman turned, his eyebrows jumped to his hairline. "Gracie?"

"Jason! Hey!" Her voice was low, with a mellow quality. She rose and gave Miller a hug. "What are you doing here?"

Miller laughed. "I could ask you the same thing." Then, he noticed Lorne's presence. "Grace, meet my CO, Major Lorne. Sir, this is a lifelong friend of mine, Dr. Grace Edgington."

Lorne stuck out his hand, but he instantly wanted to find a canvas and paint. "A pleasure."

"Likewise." Dr. Edgington had light blue eyes to go with the chocolate brown hair that had captured his attention. Several dark curls framed her face, and she spoke with a faint British accent.

Miller grinned. "You two should get along well." He turned to Lorne. "Gracie's quite the artist."

Suddenly, Lorne connected the dots. When he found out about Lorne's artwork, Miller had announced that he'd dated an artist in high school. "The figurine?"

"That's Gracie's work."

Dr. Edgington blushed. "I just paint as a hobby."

"So, how's your brother?"

"Still working for Games Workshop in England." Dr. Edgington turned the full force of her eyes on Lorne. "Garrett is my twin brother. He's the artist."

Miller didn't give Lorne a chance to comment. "And how in the world did you land on Atlantis?"

Edgington glanced at Keller. "Relief work. Jennifer and I worked together for a time in the Sudan. She's the one who got me this job."

Lorne glanced at Keller and noticed the nod toward the door. He answered with a nod of his own, this time to the other two men on his team who were already settled some distance away with lunch. He looked at Miller. "I'm eating."

Edgington smiled graciously. "It was nice to meet you."

Lorne walked away with one thought on his mind. Now he understood why Miller still talked about Grace Edgington like she was the best thing that had happened to him. He'd only spoken with the woman for a few minutes, and already she'd become unforgettable.

Jason was on Atlantis. Grace settled back to her late lunch with mixed feelings. When she and Jason had dated, things had been vastly different. He had not gone off to war. She had not seen the effects of war in refugee camps during her time with the Red Cross. Now, she saw the changes in him as well as the years. War was hard on anyone, and war with aliens was worse.

Jason returned with a tray of his own. "So, your work with the Red Cross landed you here?"

"Yes." Grace suppressed the sigh. Jason usually opened a conversation by repeating something she said. "I'm still adjusting."

He sobered. "So am I."

"How long have you been here?"

"About three months." He ate a few bites. "They've been hard months. We lost one of Gate Team One's members just before she gave birth, and then the major nearly died when a booby-trapped building caved in on him."

"But he's okay?"

"Lorne bounces back pretty well." Jason shook his head. "I wonder how he and Sheppard do it."

"Sheppard?"

"Gate Team One's leader, Lt. Col. John Sheppard. He's second-in-command here."

Grace nodded. "So the lady they lost? How is everyone coping with that?"

Jason blinked. "Grace, I forget you're used to death and destruction. No, she was captured by Michael and his hybrids. They found her, and the baby is fine."

"Good." They fell silent, and Grace wondered how to continue the conversation. So many years between them, and all she could say was that Jason was a good man. When he'd gone off to join the Air Force, she hadn't pined for him. She'd missed the times they had together, but she knew she didn't love him even if he loved her. And he'd said so in all of his letters.

Grace emptied her water bottle. "Well, I hate to go, but. . . ."

Jason nodded. "I understand. Duty calls."

"Yeah." Grace gathered her tray and left the mess hall. She hated to leave Jason like that, but they had nothing to talk about. In the infirmary, Keller put her to work, and that took up the rest of the day.

~TBC~

**A/N:** So, not the greatest chapter, but it picks up. I promise. This story started as an idea that wouldn't leave me alone and became so much more. As always, review and let me know what you think.


	2. Chapter 2

Two days later, Grace thankfully slept late. It was her day off, and she intended to enjoy it. From what Keller said, it wasn't often that someone got a day to themselves, and that could be interrupted at any time. She admonished Grace to enjoy her time off and come back to work fresh. Grace had no problems with that. She slept until she woke, loving the feel of waking without an alarm, and showered.

The entry request came about midmorning. Grace went to the door and blinked when she recognized Jason's CO. "Major."

Lorne turned and gave a sheepish grin. "I know this sounds kind of lame, but it's true. I was planning to do some painting today, and wondered if you would join me. I'd like to see how you paint those miniatures."

Ah, the military figure she'd painted for Jason all those years ago. Grace glanced around. "My stuff will take a few minutes to gather, but I don't mind. It'll be a change of scenery."

Lorne gave her directions to a balcony in the heart of Atlantis and left her to prepare. An hour later, with her kit packed and a TV tray from Earth in tow, she stepped onto an area that could only be defined as a "nook." The walls of Atlantis ended at the end of the city, and no railing kept people from falling off. Two of the planet's five moons were visible in the blue sky, and Lorne had already set up an easel, canvas, and all of his paints. Grace stood just outside the door and stared at the sight. If she hadn't been standing there, feeling the breeze on her face and seeing the moons for herself, she would have laughed at the description. Now, she took it in stride even though she wondered why she had accepted a corny invitation from one of the highest ranking officers on Atlantis.

Lorne stepped over to take the heavy tackle box she carried and grinned. "I had the same reaction a month ago when I found this place. I just had to wait for a day off and the right conditions to paint it."

Grace studied him while he set her kit on the stone bench available. "I'm still wondering when I'll wake up and find I dreamed all of this."

He chuckled. "All of us had that reaction when we first entered the program. I served in the Milky Way for a time before coming to Atlantis. I'm glad I came."

"Me, too," Grace agreed. She set up the TV tray in front of the bench and pulled her latest figure from the kit. She saw Lorne readying some paints but watching her. "When he found out that I'd be spending an undetermined amount of time on a classified military base, my brother made sure I had more than enough figures to paint."

"He's an artist?"

"A professional artist." She took the figure out of its packaging and studied the design. "These figures are for tabletop miniatures games. The general idea is that the player is the general of the army, and each piece or unit does something different. This guy," she continued after holding up the figure, "is larger than most. He's the avatar of a god for one of the factions."

Lorne moved behind her and leaned close to study the pieces, and Grace swallowed. Her reaction to him shouldn't have been this immediate. But the light scent of his aftershave and the intense way he studied the figure made her heart rate climb a bit. He picked up the bottom half of the figure and frowned. "How do you paint them with this much detail?"

"Very small brushes and a lot of inks and washes." She picked up a small bottle. "Basically, you put the base coat on, and then you thin this down with a touch of water. It'll tint the base coat and run into the crevices to accent them. It also saves a lot of time."

He set the piece down. "How long will this figure take you?"

She considered the pieces. "Depends on how much talking we do. If I'm by myself and in my 'zone,' I could finish him in probably eight to ten hours."

Lorne moved to his easel, and the two fell silent for a long time. Grace pulled a pair of glasses from her kit and prepared her palette and paints. While she set up, she eyed the major while he began outlining the moons in a light shade of blue. The other day, he'd looked tired and very military in a pair of fatigue pants, a black t-shirt, and baggy jacket. Now, he looked great. He wore a pair of jeans with a blue button-down shirt over a white t-shirt. The sleeves were rolled up to just below his elbows, and his blue eyes reflected the blue in his shirt. His brown hair spiked a little from where he'd had it cut short but laid over to the right in a classic style. He never noticed her scrutiny, or never commented, and began working on his painting.

Grace pulled her attention from her companion and started painting. She began by applying white paint to the deepest parts of the figure. The figure resembled something of a humanoid tree, and it would eventually look as if the bark barely enclosed a flaming core. Her attention focused, and time slipped away. Colors blended together, and the figure began to take on an appearance that surprised her. When she finally straightened and rubbed her neck, Lorne glanced up from where he had just finished the second, more brilliant of the two moons.

"It hasn't been eight hours yet."

"No." She rolled her neck. "But I'm not as young as I used to be. I have to take breaks."

Lorne started to speak, but the door behind them opened first. Jason burst through and stared at Grace's startled face. "There you are. I've been looking all over for you." He noticed Lorne and straightened. "I'm sorry, Sir."

"At ease, Lieutenant."

"Thank you." Jason looked at Grace. "I didn't mean to intrude."

Grace glanced at Lorne, hating the awkwardness that invaded the comfortable silence of the last few hours. "You're not. We were just painting."

Jason nodded like he really didn't believe her. "How's it coming?"

"Good." She turned to where she'd attached the figure to a newly painted base.

Lorne returned to his painting, but he glanced at Jason. "That sculpture is going to be a masterpiece."

Jason drew himself up. "I told you she was good." He turned back to Grace. "Do you have a minute?"

Her heart sank. She knew that tone, and she wasn't sure she wanted to hear the question. "Sure." A moment later, she stood on the other side of the door.

Jason stuck his hands in his pockets. "I made a fool of myself, didn't I?"

"Yes." She glanced at the closed door, seeing Lorne's form through the stained glass. "We really were just painting. Just two artists spending the day together doing what we love."

He nodded. "The major's pretty good, isn't he?"

"He could probably sell his work under fantasy titles if he wanted to." Grace nodded toward Jason. "But that's not what you wanted to speak to me about."

"No." He looked down momentarily. "I wondered if you'd like to have dinner tonight. Just as friends. Just for old times' sake."

Old times' sake. Grace knew Jason had never really recovered from their mutual decision to break off their relationship. "I don't know."

"Look, I know what you're thinking." He met her eyes. "We're not those kids anymore."

"No, we're not." She scowled. "I've seen too much in my work, and you've fought with aliens. We've grown up. We're different people, not just more mature. I don't know everything you've seen, and you can't imagine how I feel when I remember holding orphans' hands while they die."

"That really happened?"

"More times than I'd care to admit." Grace sighed. "One dinner. One evening. I'm not sure I even want a relationship right now. There's too much here to explore and do. Who knows? I could be on the team that discovers the cure for AIDS. You can't imagine what that would mean to me with all the work I've done in Africa."

Jason accepted that. "Around seven?" When she nodded, he grinned. "I'll see you later, then. Enjoy your painting."

Grace watched him go and returned to the deck. Lorne had settled in her spot and carefully turned the base of the figure with one finger. He glanced up and looked like a little boy caught with his hand in a cookie jar. "Everything okay?"

"Yes." Grace was relieved when he didn't immediately jump up. "I'm sorry about the awkwardness a little while ago."

"Jason's young." Lorne shrugged. "And you're a beautiful woman. It's to be expected."

Grace smiled, enjoying the compliment in the matter-of-fact statement. She nodded toward the figure. "What do you think?"

"I like it. I see what you were talking about earlier. When you mentioned inks." He pointed. "But, how did you get the iridescent glow on the jewels?"

"I painted a mid-range base coat on the area. Then, I did a thin, diagonal coat of a lighter shade for the top and a darker shade for the bottom, letting the original color show in the middle. A tiny dot of white makes it look like light reflecting off of a shiny surface." Grace watched him shake his head. "You should see some of Garrett's work. He makes flat gray look like real metal."

"You said he's your twin?" Lorne moved and returned to his work. "How's he doing with you so far away?"

"We're used to it." Grace picked up a brush and dipped it in water. "Well, we're used to being apart for more than a month of the year. He lives and works in England, where we were born. I worked all over the world until I came here. It's still uncanny how we know that the other is in trouble. It makes me wonder how he's going to handle me being out of the galaxy." She stopped for a moment. "I never thought I'd hear myself say those words."

Lorne chuckled, and Grace quickly looked at the figure before her. Her heart pounded, and she sighed. Why couldn't she react to Jason's goofy grin the way she'd just reacted to Lorne's dimples? She'd never understand her emotions. But one thing was sure. She wouldn't be working any more today. She looked at the man standing nearby. "Listen, I'm going to call it a day. But thank you for the invitation."

"You're welcome." Lorne cleaned a brush and studied her. "Next time we have a day off, I'd like to watch you paint. In depth."

"I have tons of figures, so I can actually walk you through the process if you'd like." She shrugged. "My brother gets them at a discount, and he spent thousands of dollars on me. I have the extras."

His eyes went to the door. "I don't know that Miller would like that."

Grace drew in a deep breath. "Major, Jason and I parted ways a long time ago. Years ago, in fact. He's seen things I'll never understand, and I've seen things he'll never understand. I don't know that I want to rekindle things. As I live here, I'm going to develop a peer group that includes other men, and Jason will have to accept that. Even if that group includes his CO."

"I appreciate that, but I also have to think about my team." Lorne faced her, all traces of lightheartedness gone. He dropped a brush into some water and set down the pallette he held. "If Miller perceives more than a friendship between us and can't handle that, it could jeopardize our missions. The trust between me and my men has to be absolute. If it's not, one or more of us could end up dead."

Grace nodded in spite of the flip-flop her heart performed. Why did Jason have to intrude like this the first time she felt this way about any man? She'd dated a lot of different guys, but she'd never reacted this way before. "I understand that, as well. The offer stands."

Lorne smiled again, but Grace refused to be moved by it. It wasn't a friendly grin of amusement. It was a business-like smile. One that put a wall between them. She quickly gathered her things and stood. "Thanks again. I enjoyed the day."

Lorne watched her go, and Grace headed for her quarters. She'd agreed to dinner tonight, but she wouldn't do so again. Not if it would cause problems with her friends. The problem with her plan was that she didn't know if she'd be able to refuse another invitation from Major Lorne. He'd captured her attention in one simple move. One simple moment that wasn't designed to get close to her romantically. In fact, all of his attention had been on her artwork. Wasn't that how it was supposed to happen? Naturally? Grace didn't know, and she refused to ponder her new friendship with Major Lorne while she prepared for dinner with Jason. It wasn't right, and she intended to set the record straight as soon as she was able tonight.

~TBC~

**Author's Note:** I have painted the figures that Grace talks about here. It is very long, detailed work that is difficult on the shoulders and back. I know this chapter was a lot of fluff, but it's fun fluff. What's more fun than watching someone paint a portrait or a figurine and seeing it come alive under his or her capable hands?


	3. Chapter 3

Lorne's team drew the short straw the next day, leaving the men scrambling to gather gear and weapons. Lorne watched Jason Miller, saw the strain on his face, and wondered at the wisdom of taking him. He had considered Miller's opinion of Grace when he asked her to join him to paint, but Miller's reaction still surprised him. When Chris slapped him on the shoulder, Lorne nodded. "Be there in a moment." As soon as the other two men left the room, he stepped to Miller's side. "Everything alright, Lieutenant?"

Miller glanced up. "Yeah." Then, he stared straight ahead. "Kind of."

"Kind of?" Lorne raised his eyebrows. "If you're not focused on this mission, say so now."

"I'll be focused as soon as I step through the gate." Miller shook his head. "I made a fool of myself in front of you, and I was rude. I'm sorry."

Lorne blinked. "This about yesterday?"

"Yeah." Miller faced him, his gaze direct. "Gracie chewed on me for a while yesterday afternoon, and it got me to thinking. I've never really recovered from our split, and I need to. She's different. More direct. Not the girl I remember. And I may never see that girl again. So, if she makes friends with other guys or even dates other guys, I have to let her. It's her decision. I can't tie her down because she doesn't want to be tied down. Not to me, anyway."

"It's good you realize that, but I don't really care about all that right now." Lorne jabbed a thumb toward the door. "Are you good for this mission?"

Miller straightened and nodded. "I'm good for this mission."

Lorne accepted that and headed for the gate room with Miller on his heels. As much as he'd like to talk about Miller's issues with Grace Edgington, he refused to take his mind off of his mission. At any time, any number of enemies could show up, resulting in combat or capture, and he needed to be clearheaded enough to handle it. Especially when it involved a touchy trading partner that he managed to befriend.

Almost twenty-four hours later, Lorne returned to Atlantis tired and irritated. He got his way, as usual, but it took longer than he cared to spend. He wasn't a diplomat. He was a soldier. But the Atlantis Expedition needed to eat, and he gladly put in his contribution toward the welfare of the entire crew.

"Major." Miller stopped him after they'd debriefed and visited the infirmary. "There's something I didn't say before the mission that I'd like to tell you now."

The Grace Edgington thing again. "Okay."

"If you and Gracie want to spend time together, I'm cool with it."

Lorne stared. "Miller, I'm not going to step on your toes just because I'm your ranking officer."

"That's not what I'm saying." Miller shrugged. "You're both artists–the only artists I know of on Atlantis. It's natural for you to spend time together. It's something you have in common, just like Dr. Keller and Gracie are doctors. She needs that, and I can't keep her from something she needs."

"Good to know." Lorne let him go without telling him of Grace's offer to teach him to paint the figures she loved. But he intended to try the young lieutenant. He wanted to see if Miller was true to his word. When he reached his quarters, he emailed Grace, asking when would be a good time for her, and collapsed into bed.

An email waited for him when he woke up hours later. Grace wasn't scheduled for another day off until late that week. By then, he would be off-world on another mission. Lorne shook his head. Life on Atlantis was crazy enough. Life on Atlantis while trying to spend time with friends was even crazier. And that was all he intended to do with Grace Edgington. If Jason Miller still carried a torch for her, he refused to step on the man's toes, no matter how attractive the new doctor might be.

SGA SGA SGA SGA

Two weeks passed before Lorne and Grace found time to get together. In that time, he saw Miller and Grace share lunch twice, and he had not needed to remind Miller about his focus on missions. Today, however, he had to remind himself about his promise not to step on Miller's toes. Grace sat in the mess hall, where the light and large tables made it an ideal place to set up a painting station. Lorne had agreed. It wasn't so personal, and no one could comment on anything other than an art lesson.

Grace had obviously been there for a while. A cup of coffee sat at her left hand, just behind her cup of water. A variety of paints were spread out, and she had set up a spot for him as well. The window nearby highlighted the light brown of her hair and made her smooth skin almost translucent. Lorne kept walking, but he had a difficult time not staring. Blue-rimmed glasses framed blue eyes, making them even more startling than they already were. "Hey."

Grace looked up. "Major."

Lorne took the seat and offered a smile. "If we're painting together, it's 'Evan.' If we're on duty, then you can call me 'Major.'"

She grinned. "Deal." Then, she frowned. "But, habits are hard to break, especially in my line of work."

He looked down. "Okay, I assume you've got some figures picked out."

"Yes, but I brought this as well." She pulled a tall, beautifully painted image of a flaming humanoid tree out of a towel and set it in front of him. "This is the one I started several weeks ago. I finished it a few days later, but I haven't had a chance to show you."

Lorne carefully picked up the figure by it's sculpted base. Everything, down to the molten gold settings for the jewels, had been expertly done. He whistled. "Have you ever thought about selling your work?"

"Yes, but then it becomes a job. Not a hobby." Her eyes dropped. "For a time, after Bosnia, I seriously thought about living off of savings or going to work for Privateer Press, the American version of Games Workshop."

He set down the figure before he dropped it. "You were in Bosnia?"

"The aftermath. The refugee camps and military bases." Her eyes, which had sparkled until now, took on a dull, weary look. It was as if she'd aged right in front of him. "It was one heck of a first assignment."

Lorne nodded. "I've heard. I have friends who served there. Some of them were never the same."

"It changed me." She blinked and looked away. When she spread several different packages across the table, her eyes had a watery appearance. "Okay, so you need to pick what figure you want to paint and the color scheme first. I brought all of them primered, and I picked out the ones without a lot of detail to let you get used to the small size and different techniques."

Lorne let the subject drop and considered the figures. All of them were tiny, about two inches tall. A strange sensation crept up his spine as he realized that, while he knew about art and how to layer paint on a canvas, he really knew nothing about this activity. Finally, he settled on a figure of a woman walking across flames, her robe flowing behind her.

Grace smiled, all traces of strain gone. "Epic Feora."

"Who?"

"The figure." She shrugged. "Each one has a name. That one is a Privateer Press figure, from the faction Protectorate of Menoth. Basically, they're the Catholic church of the Iron Kingdoms. She is Epic Feora."

"Why 'epic?'"

"Because she's a bigger and badder version of the regular Feora."

"She's a beautiful sculpt."

"Yes she is." Grace motioned to the paints and picked up the figure of a woman with a swirling cloak. "Now, you need to choose your color scheme. I have two different types of paint, and I picked these because they take longer to dry. The others I used last week dry very quickly, and they are difficult to use when you're just beginning."

Lorne looked through the paints and settled on a royal purple and gold scheme. Grace tugged several shades of green and brown toward her palette. "Now, you apply basecoats." She picked up her brush. "Use the largest brush you can for the area, and work from the deepest parts of the figure out." Without putting paint on her brush, she illustrated her point. "That will take some time depending on how detailed you want to get. Today, I'm going to teach you how to highlight, ink, and drybrush. Then, you can take the paints you need with you and work on your own in your free time."

For a while, they were quiet as they worked. Lorne focused on the figure, finding it awkward to hold the piece with his thick fingers. Grace, on the other hand, turned her figure with long slender fingers. She was patient, and he thought she'd make a great teacher some day. Finally, he voiced the thoughts in his head. "Have you ever thought about teaching art?"

"No." She grinned. "In spite of everything, I love my job too much."

"Good answer."

"Though I was thinking." The tension in her tone brought his head up. "I can't draw a straight line to save my life, but I hope you won't mind returning the favor. Sometime." She sounded sheepish, and he looked up to see a light blush across her cheeks. For some reason, that made him smile.

He cleaned his brush and set down the figure. "You want me to teach you to paint?"

"If you can."

"If you can write, you can draw."

"You haven't seen my handwriting." She tucked her hands under her chin. "I'm a doctor. Remember?"

"And all of my writing is done on a computer, printed out, and I add my signature." He shrugged. "But, I don't mind. After I finish this figure, we can set up a time to meet."

They spent the remainder of the afternoon at the table. Lorne learned how to apply inks and accent the work. His work wasn't as refined as Grace's, but he was pleased with the end result. At the end of the day, he chose the regular version of Feora, a woman with her gown flaring around her feet, to take with him as practice. Grace had thought of everything, including a small tackle box for the paints he borrowed. She packed them while he cleared the table of the paper towels and water cups they'd used. Two days later, when he found the time to sit down and work on finishing Epic Feora, he discovered that Grace had tucked the humanoid tree and a note inside the tackle box. He stared at the figure for a moment and then read the note. _Thanks for being a friend. It means more than you know._

~TBC~

**Author's Note:** Want more? Review and tell me what you think.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** Okay, I think I've figured out the scene break thing. I wasn't sure how it worked on this website, but I hope I've solved it. It will make the story a little less confusing when the scene breaks along with a point of view break. Enjoy, and, as always, review and let me know what you think. :D

SGA SGA SGA SGA

Grace waited for Lorne's response to the gift, and it came several days after their session in the mess hall. An email waited when she woke. _Heading off-world 1300. Need to talk before then._

Midmorning, she found time to slip onto a balcony where Lorne waited. Today, he wore the normal blue and gray uniform. He also held a towel-wrapped figure in his hands. "Doc."

"Major." So it would be like this. Grace sighed. She'd hoped that her time with Jason had made him realize that she needed to be free to pursue her own life. And she'd begun to hope that Evan Lorne figured into that life somewhere.

Lorne held out the figure. "I appreciate the thought, but I can't accept this."

Grace nodded. "Before I take it back, I'd like to know why."

"Miller, for one." He looked out across the pier of Atlantis. "You're a friend, but I don't want to send the wrong signals to you or anyone else."

"Wrong signals?" She joined him at the railing. "Major, I don't talk about Bosnia easily. Jason knows I went, but that's all he knows. He doesn't know how close I came to walking away from my dream of being a combat surgeon. And I've known Jason all my life. I don't believe I'm getting the wrong signals–or interpreting them the wrong way. I hope I can say that you're a friend."

"You can say that." He eyed her. "But, this is too much. You spent hours. It's a work of art, and one that shouldn't be easily given. It should go to someone who means a lot to you."

"And it did." Grace nearly swallowed her tongue at how easily that admission slipped. "When I came here, I didn't know a soul. Except Jennifer. Now, you're here, giving me an artist to talk to and paint with. Someone who understands what creativity is about. I meant nothing more than that, and I hope you won't let the time spent on that figure change the fact I'd like you to have it. I have so many that I'll be giving a few more away during my time here. Or sending them back to Garrett. I can't keep them all in my quarters. And I'd like them to go somewhere where they'll be appreciated."

Lorne never looked at her, but she saw his face clear as he considered her words. "Okay." He drew himself up to his full height and met her eyes. "Thank you."

She smiled. "You're welcome. And good luck today."

He nodded and left her alone. She knew she needed to return to the infirmary, but she took a few minutes. Lorne had a way of overpowering her without even trying. His eyes were direct, and his voice cut to the heart of any matter. She frowned. Why was it that she was so drawn to someone so quiet, reserved and dry? All her life, she'd loved to date men who were adventurous and daring. "Get a grip, Grace," she said to herself. "He's the leader of a team who lives on an alien planet and visits other alien planets. He's been doing this for years and always comes home alive. The man knows adventure."

She pulled her mind from Lorne and returned to the infirmary. Keller didn't question her need to take a few minutes, and Grace appreciated that. It left her with some time to quiet her heart and revel in the gentle glance Lorne had given her just before he left her alone. If she allowed herself, she could imagine that she wasn't the only one with more on her mind than a simple friendship. Unfortunately, because of the limits he'd set, there could be nothing more than friendship. That upset Grace, and she put the entire matter from her mind for the remainder of the day.

SGA SGA SGA SGA

The day Lorne chose to teach Grace to paint dawned overcast. Much to his relief, however, the sun started peeking between the clouds just before their lunch time lesson. Grace arrived, clad in black slacks and a tailored blue blouse, and her eyes sparkled as she greeted him. Lorne turned away under the pretense of setting up a second easel so she could paint. This wasn't a good idea. No matter what Miller said, he refused to step on the younger man's toes, and Grace Edgington was too attractive for her own good. She'd left her hair loose today, and he angled the easel so that the easterly wind would blow it from her face rather than into her paints. It also gave her an excellent view of Atlantis' horizon and the contrast between the storm darkening the horizon and the sunshine warming their balcony.

"Okay, start by deciding what you want to paint." He stepped back and let Grace take her place. "I chose the horizon today, simply because it has less detail."

She grinned at him. "Tit-for-tat?"

He returned the grin. "Ease. City skylines take a little more time and skill. Once again, you're starting with basics." For the next twenty minutes, they spoke about different ways to sketch the picture, and she frowned at the charcoal pencil he put in her hand. "Remember: Art is an interpretation, not an exact representation. You don't paint exactly what you see. You paint what your heart sees."

"What my heart sees?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah." He pressed his lips together. "Too many years listening to my mom. She was a high school art teacher."

"So, you're basically telling me that I paint the horizon based on the feelings it stirs in me, not what I'm seeing."

"Yes."

"So, if I blend the edges because I personally tend to blur things together, it's okay?"

"Yes."

She considered that for a moment. "Just no teasing when this doesn't come out right."

Lorne resisted the urge to chuckle. "No teasing."

She went to work, her focus as complete as it had been while she'd painted her figures. He left her sketching out the horizon and moved to his own easel. The wind lifted her hair and tousled the curls she'd left down her back. Of their own accord, his hands began tracing her profile onto his canvas.

Thirty minutes later, she eased back from her easel and frowned. "Now what?"

"You've got your outline?"

"As much as I think I need. I have a pretty good idea of what I want to see happen."

Lorne dropped his brush into paint thinner and moved to her side. "Now, you start applying paint. It's a lot like when you paint a figure. I watched you a lot last time. You put the darker paints on first, and then you add the highlights later. Just remember that you're working with oils. They take more time to dry." He showed her several techniques for blending paints on the canvas and left her to work. Grace knew more than she realized, and he wanted to see how well she did. It had always been his mom's way of teaching. She allowed each of her students, him included, to make their mistakes.

As he watched Grace, he also painted her. Many times, she lifted her face into the wind, absorbing the image of the horizon and letting the wind blow through her hair. She didn't know that, during those times, he studied every detail, trying to take a mental snapshot so that he could finish this painting in his personal time. As he worked, he reminded himself that he'd made a promise to himself. He would not let this move beyond anything but friendship and a kinship with a fellow artist. He valued the opinions and trust of his team way too much.

SGA SGA SGA SGA

Across from the pair, another set of eyes watched the scene. Jason Miller had caught sight of Grace with the wind in her hair and stopped to watch. Movement behind her startled him, and he stared as Lorne walked to her side, pointing at a canvas and talking to her. So that's what those two were up to. Nothing terrible. Just an art lesson. For years, Gracie had talked of how she wished she could paint on canvas and not just on figures. It looked like her time on Atlantis would teach her just that. And Jason could think of no one better than the major. Lorne had a keen sense of people and their strengths. During his training phase, the major had used Jason's strengths as a starting place for what other skills he'd needed to develop. It seemed that he'd done the same thing with Grace.

The two worked in silence for a time, with Grace unconscious of how wild her hair made her look, and Jason nearly left the window. He didn't want to look like he'd been spying on them, but he was curious. Whenever someone rounded the corner, he shifted his gaze to the horizon, where lightning now lit the clouds from the inside out. In fact, a couple others stopped to admire the beauty of the coming storm. It wasn't much more than wind and a little rain, but it was a sight to behold. When he was alone, however, he watched Grace.

She spoke, and Lorne moved beside her again. This time, she motioned to the canvas, clearly unpleased with her work. Lorne took her paint brush and reached around her to add a touch to her canvas. Understanding dawned on her face, and she took the brush to try it herself. But Lorne never moved away. In fact, he listened and watched her with a slightly surprised look on his face.

Jason moved away from the window, his heart pounding. The major really cared. And, if the blush on Gracie's cheeks was any indication, so did she. Jason frowned, wondering why he always wound up on the outs with people he cared about. This time, he'd introduced the love of his life to his commanding officer, and those two had hit it off right from the start. Of course, Gracie had a way of knocking guys over with that direct gaze of her hers, but he'd never seen Lorne so stunned even when confronted by scantily clad alien beauties with nothing on their minds but fun.

Miller went his way, eventually going to the gym for a workout, but the scene on the balcony never left his mind. Nor did the amazed look on Lorne's face. In fact, when he next saw the major, he barely avoided glaring at the man and congratulating him. For the first time in his life, Jason felt the wistfulness that comes from knowing that what he once had would never come his way again.

~TBC~


	5. Chapter 5

The first drops of rain sent Lorne and Grace scrambling to cover their canvases and withdraw to dryer locations. She worked quickly, knowing that water would ruin the masterpiece taking shape under her hands. Her mind still held an image of what she'd been painting, so moving to her quarters wouldn't hamper her work. Her thoughts would, though.

When Lorne had moved close to her to help, she'd wondered if he could feel the heat coming from her face. No man, not even Jason, had ever made her feel this way. For a time after he'd moved, she had to concentrate on making her hands stay still. Already, she dreaded the next time she saw him while hardly containing her anticipation. This burst of emotion concerned her, but it was more than a girlish crush. When she was with Evan Lorne, she felt peaceful and whole. Only when he moved too close did she lose the ability to think reasonably straight. While he remained at a somewhat safe distance, she could focus on her work even though she never lost the awareness that he was there.

Lorne carried the easels while she pulled the paints below the shelter of the city. "Think you can finish on your own?"

"Yeah." Grace set her load down and readjusted a few things. "If I get stuck, I'll call you."

"Just remember that you know more than you realize. Painting on a canvas is like painting on a figure. You just don't have the texture."

She nodded and went her way. Lorne helped her carry the paints he'd loaned her to her quarters and left her there with a smile and small wave. She looked around and found a spot beside the window into which to tuck the easel and canvas.

Today had nearly been pure torture. Lorne had put a wall between them, but he didn't realize what that did to her. When he'd stepped close to help with her questions, he had nearly rendered her speechless. Just what was she going to do if she fell for a guy who had no intentions other than a good friendship? She wasn't sure, and she didn't have anyone here that she could tell about it, either. That alone made her want to cry.

SGA SGA SGA SGA

The next day, Grace stood in the infirmary, staring at a computer screen. She'd crossed paths with Lorne and his team as they'd headed out for another mission. Evan had greeted her with a formal "Doc" on his way past. Jason hadn't even looked at her. Now, she wondered what had happened.

"Hey." Keller's voice brought her out of her musings. "Are you okay?"

"Yes." Grace removed her glasses and rubbed her eyes. "Just thinking."

"About?"

"Remember when I told you how Jason Miller and I had dated years ago?"

"Yes."

"Well, he wants to rekindle things." Grace put her glasses back on. "But, now, there's someone else."

Keller's eyebrows rose. "You're seeing someone?"

"Not really. But I'd like to."

"Who?"

Grace opened her mouth to answer, but an alarm sounded across Atlantis' intercom system. "Unscheduled off world activation!" A pause. "Medical teams to the gate room!"

Jennifer whirled. "Let's go."

Grace followed, adrenaline coursing through her veins as she snagged a gurney and joined several medical techs in the race.

The gate room breathed with nervous energy as the blue puddle in the Stargate spit out several beams from Wraith stunners. One of the security men went down. Then, three men rushed through, carrying a fourth on their shoulders.

"Shut it down!" Lorne yelled as he and his team lowered their burden.

Grace and Jennifer crowded around. Jason Miller bled from a wound in his shoulder and two more in his back. He was conscious, but he struggled to breathe. Jennifer used a portable scanner while med techs started IVs and took his vitals. "Ruptured spleen, punctured lung, and severe bleeding. Let's get him to the infirmary."

Grace helped lift him onto the gurney. "Jason, listen to me." His eyes drifted her way. "Keep breathing. That's an order."

He nodded as a tech put an oxygen mask over his face. Grace let them wheel him away as she collected the last of her gear. She glanced at Lorne one more time, knowing this was not the time for sentimentality or questions. As she watched, he clutched his shoulder and doubled over.

"Evan?" Then, she realized where she was. "Major!"

Lorne's knees buckled, and he collapsed in the gate room.

SGA SGA SGA SGA

Jason required major surgery, which Jennifer performed. Lorne, on the other hand, only needed a few stitches and a transfusion. Grace patched him up, her hands trembling ever so slightly. The two nurses assisting glanced at her, but she kept her face blank and continued working. She'd been in stressful situations before. Finally, when the relatively minor surgery was complete, she gave Lorne a bit more sedative and left him sleeping in a hospital bed.

Sheppard and Richard Woolsey, commander of the Atlantis expedition, waited for her. Sheppard motioned toward the man behind her. "How is he?"

"Stable." Grace glanced at Lorne, secretly enjoying the boyish innocence his sleeping face held. "The bullet passed through his shoulder, missing anything vital. He just aggravated the wound by carrying Lt. Miller through the gate. He also lost a great deal of blood. In another few hours, he'll be awake and able to tell you what happened."

Sheppard and Woolsey accepted that and left Grace to her work. She updated medical files, wrote reports, and kept the infirmary running until Jennifer finished with Jason. Then, with all patients resting as comfortably as possible, she retired to her quarters for a few hours of sleep. It took her longer than she expected. Her mind insisted on running through that horrifying moment in the gate room when Lorne had collapsed. She wondered if she'd ever get over that sight.

SGA SGA SGA SGA

Waking from a sound sleep was so different from regaining consciousness, Lorne mused. He'd done the latter a few hours ago and found Colonel Sheppard at his bedside. Atlantis' military commander wanted a report, and Evan was happy to oblige. He still had a lot of sedative in his system, though. He drifted back to sleep before finding out how Lt. Miller had fared.

Now, Sheppard's spot was empty, and the infirmary hummed. Lorne blinked and frowned. How long had he been out? His shoulder ached, an improvement over the blaze caused by the bullet. When he found the guy who shot him, he would gladly return the favor.

Movement to his left caught his eye. He looked over and ignored the pain in favor of watching Grace approach his bed. "Doc."

She smiled, reserved but coy at the same time. "Major."

He shifted to face her and gritted his teeth to keep from grunting at the pain. "How's Miller?"

"In critical condition, but stable." She pulled a chair close. "If the Daedalus wasn't a week away from Earth, we would have sent him home. As it is, he'll be out of the woods before they ever make it back here." She cocked her head. "What happened?"

"We were ambushed." Lorne had told Sheppard all of this, but he didn't mind repeating it. Grace was pale, and he wanted to reassure her. Instead, he told her what happened. "Our mission was to check out some ruins rumored to have Ancient technology. And they did. Unfortunately, the Genii also heard the rumor and met us there."

"And you guys got pinned down?"

"Yeah." He cleared his throat, and she poured a cup of water. After several sips, he continued, "Miller saved my life. A bullet spun me around, and he jumped in the way of the others."

"What about the Wraith stun blasts?"

"I guess they wanted to take one of us alive." He shrugged and winced. "Oww."

Grace stood and checked his wound. "Well, you'll live." She smiled at him again. "But you'll be out of commission for a while. Plenty of time to take it easy."

He eyed the bandage she replaced, oddly uncomfortable at his bare chest and her warm hands. "I should be able to hold a palette."

"Give yourself another day or two." She laid a hand on his arm. "Don't rush this."

"I don't mean to."

Another doctor called her away, and Lorne watched her go. She really was a remarkable woman. If she hadn't told him, he would never have guessed that she'd been in Bosnia. Dr. Keller had apparently taken the day off, and Grace was in charge of the infirmary. She did it with the same ease with which he stepped through the gate. Evan settled back on the hospital bed and spent the day dozing or watching her. By the following day, he was trying to climb out of bed when Grace arrived. She very wisely talked him into a brief exam and sent him on his way with a bottle of pain pills and orders to take it easy. He set up an easel in his quarters and finished a painting.

~TBC~


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: **Contains spoilers for "Doppelganger." I loved the scene between Sheppard and Lorne, so I decided to make it a humorous memory rather than a bad one. Enjoy, and let me know what you think.

SGA SGA SGA SGA

Grace accepted a day off forty-eight hours after Jason came out of surgery. She hadn't heard from Evan in that time, but she believed he would be okay. Jason had been stable, and he'd finally shown signs of coming out of this. Now, after a decent night's sleep, Grace sat in the mess area and sipped a cup of coffee. She made better with the coffee pot in her room, but she hadn't wanted to be alone.

"Mind if I join you?" Evan's voice interrupted her thoughts. He stood next to her table, tray in his right hand and coffee cup in his left. She kicked the chair across from her, and he sat down and propped his sling on the table. "This thing is annoying."

"But necessary." Grace smiled as he scowled. "Just until the end of the week."

He ate a few bites. "I just saw Miller. How's he really doing?"

"He's stable." She set aside her coffee cup. "And he'll recover. But that's going to take a while. He may still be sent back to Earth if he requires physical therapy we can't offer."

Lorne accepted that with a nod. "I figured. How are you?"

She understood what he was asking. But how did she explain that he had scared her more than Jason had? How did she tell him that his injury, while less severe, had taken more control to stitch than Jennifer had required in her delicate repair of Jason's internal organs? "I'm okay. I mean, I know what it's like to be under fire and have seconds to make those kinds of decisions. I think Jason made the right one."

He chuckled mirthlessly at that. "Something like this makes you think."

She nodded, not needing him to elaborate. "It does." She leaned toward him. "For what it's worth, Jason wasn't the only one who risked his life that day. Your injury was less severe and infinitely easier to repair, but you lost a lot of blood. That's why you're still feeling a bit weak."

"I would have made the same decision Miller made."

"How long has he been on your team?"

"Four years." Evan quit pushing his food around and wrapped his hands around his coffee cup. "He's part of my original command here."

"I bet you could tell some stories."

"Looking for blackmail material?"

"Trying to get to know the man my friend nearly died to save."

Lorne sobered at that comment. "There was one time we were captured by the Genii." He pressed his lips together. "When they ambushed us, Miller went down first. He was a fighter from the day he arrived."

"Why did the Genii want you? And how did they get away with it?"

"They didn't." He sipped his coffee. "Cowen, their leader, wanted our Puddle Jumpers. He captured us and used our DNA to synthesize his own ATA gene. Then, Laden Radeem set us free and killed Cowen."

"So you have a nasty relationship with the Genii." Grace frowned. "Are all of your missions so . . . .?"

"Dangerous? Yes. But not all of them are so serious."

"Tell me about one."

"Well, we got into a situation where we were pinned down by enemy fire." He truly smiled, and Grace reminded herself to breathe. "Miller was enamored with a girl back at the village we'd just visited, and he delayed in leaving. By the time he caught up to us, we were pinned down and couldn't get a fix on the enemy. Miller came running between me and Ramirez, emptied his clip into the bushes, and let out this Tarzan roar. Then, he looked at me and said, 'What're we shooting at?' Behind him, guys were falling out of trees. He turned back around and said, 'Oh.'"

She chuckled. "That sounds like him." Internally, however, she buried her disappointment over hearing about Jason and not Evan. "So, how much trouble did he get into for that little incident?"

"A stern lecture on the importance of being with his team." Lorne sat back in his chair and spun his empty coffee cup. "You know he still talks in his sleep?"

Grace felt her eyebrows rise. "Really?"

"It makes it interesting when we're on a mission in enemy territory and have to bed down for the night. I'll be on watch, and Ramirez is kicking him to keep him quiet."

"At least he's not sleep-walking." She stopped when he got a slightly embarrassed expression on his face. "No way. Major Lorne sleep-walks?"

"Not recently." He shifted in his seat, embarrassment warring with sheepishness.

Grace leaned forward, delighted at the change in the conversation's direction. "How recent? Weeks, months, or years?"

"Two years."

She grinned slowly. "This has got to be a great story."

"Not really." He glanced around as if trying to see who was within earshot. His voice dropped conspiratorially. "Colonel Sheppard brought back this energy being that fed on our worst fears. It did this by inducing nightmares where it took the form of Colonel Sheppard. I woke up in an isolation room after Ronin shot me with that big gun of his. I had apparently held the real Colonel Sheppard at gunpoint."

"So, you're coherent when you sleep-walk?"

"Yeah." He looked at the table. "My mom tells stories of how I argued with her when I was asleep. I have no memory of it. Apparently, I swore the front door was the bathroom door."

Grace laughed.

Lorne met her eyes. "What's your secret?"

"My secret?"

"You know mine." He held out a hand, seeming rather pleased to turn the tables on her. "It's only fair that you share one of yours."

Grace studied him. The concern on his face had faded, and his eyes sparkled. It peeled the years off his face. "I hate the dark."

"Seriously?"

"Yup."

"What caused it?"

"When I was a kid, my family visited cousins in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Kentucky. We decided to play volleyball and set the net up across the path going from the main house to the guest house. That's what they called it. It was basically a shed. Anyway, the cousins would sleep out there and tell ghost stories. One night, I had to go to the bathroom, which was back in the house. We'd been telling stories about a monster that was little more than a shadow. An animal spooked me while I was walking to the house, and I took off running. I forgot about the volleyball net and went down screaming and clawing at this web that wrapped around me. My parents and cousins found me rolling around on the ground, screaming, 'You're not eating me! I'll kill you first!'"

Evan laughed. "They haven't let you live that down, have they?"

"Never."

"How'd you go back to the shed?"

"Sheer willpower and great acting." She frowned. "My brother always saw through that, though. He always snuck those glow sticks into the shed. Then he betrayed me by taking a picture of me cuddling that glow stick like it was a teddy bear."

He snickered. "I have a younger sister, so I have to say that I understand the motivation behind that."

"You have a sister?" Grace waited until he nodded. "Just one sibling?"

"Yes. You?"

She opened her mouth to answer, but Sheppard approached their table. Instead, she smiled. "Colonel."

"Doctor." Sheppard turned to Lorne. "Major, you got a minute?"

Instantly, Evan's smile faded, and he returned to the military man he'd been when he sat down. "Yes, sir." He excused himself and walked out of earshot.

Grace watched him go. She had painting she wanted to get done that day, but she was reluctant to leave the mess hall. These last few minutes with Lorne had made her morning. She only wished she could have the rest of the day with him.

SGA SGA SGA SGA

Lorne stood in front of Sheppard, unwilling to admit just how weak he still felt. "Sir, if you've found the guy who shot Miller, I want to be in on the mission."

Sheppard glanced to where Grace gathered their trays. "Have you been released back to active duty?"

Lorne glanced down.

"Listen, Major, I know you want to kill the guy who nearly killed your man." Sheppard held up a finger. "But the Genii ambushed you for a reason. I think it's for more than a few Ancient trinkets. We need to know why."

Lorne considered that. "You have intelligence indicating this was all more than coincidence?"

"Yeah, we do."

"Okay." He nodded. "Just, if this guy is uncooperative—."

"I know." Sheppard left then, and Lorne stared at the empty tables. He wandered just what to do with himself since he'd been sidelined. And painting with Grace was out of the question. The more time he spent with her, the more he wanted to spend with her. With Miller still interested in her, he couldn't afford to fall for her. He couldn't let his team be torn apart like that.

~TBC~


	7. Chapter 7

Jason woke up a day later. Grace was there, waiting for Lorne to come in for a check-up. Keller paged her to the isolation room, where Jason eyed her sleepily. "Grace?"

"I'm here." She moved to her bedside.

"Major Lorne?"

"He's fine." She smiled. "Better than you are right now."

Jason smiled as well. "Good." His eyes drifted closed and then popped open. "Will you tell him . . . .?" He fell asleep.

Grace left then, allowing Jennifer to work. In the infirmary, Lorne stood next to a bed and nodded when he saw her. "Hey, Doc."

"Major." She donned a pair of latex gloves. "Good news."

"Oh?" He winced as he removed his shirt so she could examine his wound.

"Lt. Miller's awake." She stared at his back, not quite able to ignore the rippling muscles. "Well, he was." She removed the bandage, embarrassed both by her distraction and the feelings seeing him bare-chested stirred.

Lorne glanced over his shoulder. "I take it that's a good sign?"

"Yes." Grace bandaged his shoulder with fresh dressings and moved around him to take a look at the wound in his chest. She hoped her face wasn't as red as it felt. "He had all of his memory, and he asked about you. But he's back asleep again, and he'll be out of it for a while."

Lorne nodded. "Thanks, Doc."

"You're welcome." She replaced the second bandage and managed to meet his eyes. "You're healing nicely, as well. I still want you wearing that sling three to four more days. After that, you can take it off as long as you can handle it. Once again, take it easy. Rushing this could delay your return to active duty."

He nodded again, this time with a slightly frustrated expression. She turned to walk away, but he stopped her with a hand on her arm. "Grace." He studied her when she turned. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She wasn't really fine, but she didn't want to tell him that.

"Jason's going to pull out of this."

"I know." She looked around, wishing he had chosen to bring up this subject in a more private setting. "I just know Jason, and I don't want anything more than friendship. What we once had is over, but I don't know how to make that clear."

"I believe you have." Lorne dropped her arm and started to struggle back into his shirt. "Women think men can just turn off their emotions, but we respond to a breakup we didn't want just as badly as you do. Give Miller time. He'll cope."

Grace left him alone then. Somehow, she'd found a guy with the ability to understand her complex emotions where Jason Miller was concerned. Now, if she could make sense of her emotions where Evan Lorne was concerned, she'd be a happy woman.

SGA SGA SGA SGA

Miller recovered with seemingly amazing speed while Lorne's wound seemed to take forever. Of course, Lorne wasn't in the hospital bed, climbing the walls with boredom. He just dealt with the boredom by pushing himself. The day that Grace removed his stitches, he went to the gym and started rebuilding the strength his arm once had. A very short workout tired him out, and he returned the next day to push himself a little harder. And the next. It wasn't without pain, but he soon felt the results.

Sheppard and his team returned from their meeting with Laden Radeem, and Lorne anxiously waited for news. Woolsey allowed him to sit in on the mission debrief, and he listened with a practiced patience. In truth, he wanted to know if the guy who shot him was dead. Sheppard never mentioned him, merely focusing on the very unsurprising fact that Radeem had a faction of Genii working against him. Lorne frowned. Why would the Genii want the Ancient tech that was on the planet where he'd been shot? Unfortunately, he wouldn't be going back to figure it out. The Genii were entrenched now, and breaching their lines would be next to impossible.

Grace remained an interesting diversion. Lorne saw her often, and they shared lunch on more than one occasion. Once, she found him on the southeast pier, painting the sunset. They talked for an hour while she watched him paint. His ego enjoyed the attention, and he enjoyed the red highlights the setting sun cast on her hair. Not for the first time, he realized just how beautiful she really was. The guy who snagged her would be a very lucky man.

Lorne returned to active duty before Jason was ready. Miller understood and accepted his fate. The new man, Williams, was good, but Lorne preferred Miller. Jason just understood the unspoken ways that developed in a good team. Williams didn't know any of them, and it caused a few awkward moments.

One evening, as he was finishing the painting of Grace that he'd begun the day he started teaching her to paint, she found him on the same pier, staring intently at the sunset behind him. She leaned to see around the canvas he'd set up. "Am I interrupting?"

Lorne turned, surprised that he hadn't heard her approach. "No." He left his spot on the railing and put his palette down on the stone bench. "I just wasn't expecting you here."

"I just came from the infirmary." She walked over to him, placing the stone bench between them. "Jason and I had a long talk about when he's going to return to the field. Or if he's going to return to the field."

"We've discussed that as well." He dropped a brush in paint thinner and straightened. "I want him back on my team, but I want him to fully recover first."

"I agree." She stared at him. "Something wrong?"

"No." He wondered if he should cover the painting.

She accepted that with a nod. "What are you working on?"

"Just a fun project." He hoped she'd leave it at that.

"Aren't they all?" She motioned. "May I?"

Lorne had seconds to debate the dilemma. If he showed her the painting and she didn't like it, they probably wouldn't share the same friendship. On the other hand, if she did like it, the friendship would still change. Either way, she'd know what he'd been keeping hidden. "Sure."

Grace moved around the canvas and stared at the painting. Her eyes widened slightly, and he moved to her side. She looked at him. "I'm not that pretty."

"You don't look in the mirror much, do you?" He stuck his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "Look, I don't know if this is the time or place to talk about this, but I can't keep pretending. Not anymore."

"Pretending?" She drew in a deep breath. "I know that sounds clueless, but I want to make sure we're on the same page and not misreading each others signals."

Lorne thought for a moment. He was a soldier, not a man of words. Rather than try to explain, he turned her face with one hand and kissed her.

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Grace was not a weak-in-the-knees kind of woman, but Evan's kiss made her head spin. She stepped closer to him, grateful that she wasn't the only one wishing the charade could end. He slipped his arms around her waist, but he also ended the kiss far too soon for her tastes. She tried to catch her breath and keep her wits about her at the same time. He leaned back far enough to look her in the eyes. "That's what I'm talking about."

She put both hands on his chest. "Do we really have to keep pretending?"

He stepped away from her and returned to the railing. "Grace, I'm sure you've heard it before. A distracted soldier is a dead soldier."

"I know that." She frowned. "Have I done something?"

"I'm not talking about you and me." He faced her again. "I know how hard it is for you, being a doctor, to let anyone go through the gate. But that's our job, and you accept it. I'm referring to Miller. If we start up a relationship, he's going to be distracted every time he goes on a mission with me."

"You underestimate him." Grace found it hard to breathe again, but not because of Evan's nearness. Why did this subject keep getting in the way? "Jason's a good man, and he'll accept my decision."

"He might, but he'll still feel the rejection." He straightened. "You're a good friend, Grace. But, for all our sakes, that's all this can be." He pressed his lips together briefly. "I'm sorry."

For an instant, anger flashed through her, and she almost rushed to the infirmary to give Jason Miller a piece of her mind. They'd been out of each other's lives for so long, and, now that she'd finally found someone with whom she had more than just a passing interest, he stood in her way. The anger faded, however, leaving a crushing weight in its place. Evan returned her feelings, but he had just done the honorable thing. He had crushed her heart in order to keep his team together. She should have expected nothing less.

Evan gathered his supplies and faced her, the easel between them. "I hope you find a place for that." He motioned toward the painting. Then, he left her alone, crying and wanting to throw the beautiful painting into the depths of the Lantean ocean.

~TBC~

**Author's Note**: Okay. Fluff, fluff, and more fluff. But every good love story needs scenes like this. The next few chapters should change a lot of this, though. Let me know what you think by reviewing!


	8. Chapter 8

Grace stared after him, not entirely sure what to do. She wanted to cry, but she also wanted to scream. Life on Atlantis was hard enough, but this was just not fair. After a long time, she carefully carried the painting back to her quarters and stared at it. Evan had painted her staring out over Atlantis. Her likeness wore an elegant turquoise gown, and the wind blew her hair behind her shoulders. The setting sun highlighted the curls in her hair. Grace looked in the mirror and back at the painting. The similarity was there, but she still didn't believe she was that pretty. _"Remember: Art is an interpretation, not an exact representation. You don't paint exactly what you see. You paint what your heart sees." _Evan's words the day he tried to teach her to paint came back to her. Was this what his heart saw when he looked at her?

Not wanting to sit alone, she wiped any expression from her face and left her quarters. She needed to talk, but she wasn't sure who she could trust with this. Before she knew it, she found herself standing in the door of the infirmary. Jennifer was working late, and Dr. McKay, a member of Col. Sheppard's team, sat close by, rubbing her back. Just the sight of the familiar gesture of affection made Grace want to cry again.

Keller looked up from her computer screen. "Grace? Is everything okay?"

"No." The truth slipped out before she could stop it. "I mean, yes."

Jennifer stood and walked over to her. "What happened?"

"Nothing." Grace pasted a smile on her face. "I had some free time and thought I'd work on that research I started a few weeks ago."

Jennifer looked at McKay, and he straightened. "Well, I'll let you two get to work."

Keller smiled. "Thanks, Rodney."

"You're welcome." He left them alone.

Grace stared after him. "You didn't have to do that. I really was going to work on my research."

"I'm sure you were." Jennifer motioned her into the chair next to her. "But you're going to tell me what's wrong first. You're a combat surgeon and a relief worker. You don't look shattered very often."

"Is that what I look like?"

"Not to someone who doesn't know you."

"Oh."

"Grace, what happened?"

"You remember how I told you that there was someone I was interested in?" She waited while Keller nodded. "Well, it turns out that he feels the same way."

"So, what's the problem?" Jennifer looked confused. "If you're both interested in each other, that's good. Right?"

"No. He basically said there couldn't be anything between us because of Miller. You know? 'A distracted soldier is a dead soldier.'" Just mimicking Evan's words hurt. A few tears slipped out. "I'm sorry. I didn't expect this."

"Why would Lt. Miller have anything to do with who you see?"

"Because Evan's his commanding officer." Grace dropped her head into her hand. "And he's afraid that our relationship would distract Jason in the field. And he's right. Jason's always been a little emotionally attached to me. But he's a good man, and I think he'd accept my choice if given enough time."

"Wait." Keller held up a hand. "You've been seeing _Major Lorne_?"

"Yeah."

Jennifer stayed silent. What was there to say?

Grace tried to smile at her. "So, there's not much I can do right now. If you don't mind, I'm going to work on my research. Who knows? Maybe I'm not supposed to be distracted from my work, either." She stood and headed for her lab, knowing that she wouldn't get anything done. But she could be among her work and rekindle her dream of curing cancer or AIDS or any number of incurable diseases back on Earth. After all, with Evan putting a wall between them, what other goals did she really have?

SGA SGA SGA SGA

Something had changed. Jason sensed it the next time Grace visited. She was sad and distracted. When he asked, she just said that she'd been working a lot and was tired. He didn't believe that for an instant.

Lorne kept him apprised of the team's missions and worked with him in the gym while he did his physical therapy. He was almost ready to return to the field. He could feel it. But Keller hadn't signed off on his medical release, and Lorne wouldn't break protocol like that. Still, he worried about everything.

One day, while the two men worked in the gym, Jason stopped his exercises and eyed his CO. "Major, how's Grace?"

Lorne looked up, surprised. "I don't know. Why?"

"I know you two spend a lot of time together, and she's been different lately." He picked up another weight. "Kind of sad. I've never seen her like this, and it has me worried."

"Actually, Lieutenant, Dr. Edgington and I haven't seen each other much lately." Lorne turned away to put his weights back on the rack. "I'm not sure what's going on in her world."

Jason eyed him. When Lorne had visited him in the infirmary, he had referred to her as "Grace." Now, he called her by her professional name. Somehow, instead of making Jason feel good, it concerned him. As much as he'd like to believe otherwise, Grace made a better fit with the major than she ever had with him. They had a lot in common while still being two completely different people.

As soon as he left the gym, Jason found Grace in her lab. Several techs worked nearby, so he moved in close to speak with her in hushed tones. "Got a few minutes?"

She stepped back and eyed him. "Sure. What's on your mind?"

"Not here." He led the way back out of the lab and to a secluded corridor with padded chairs. Once she'd sat down, he studied her. "What's going on?"

"Nothing." She frowned. "Why?"

"You're different." He pointed at her face. "From those circles under your eyes, I'd say you're not sleeping much. I never see you painting anymore, and you avoid people. That lab has become your life."

"That lab is my life." Grace shook her head once, anger sparking in her words. "You know that. I'm a doctor."

"Not like this." Jason scowled. "Grace, it's like you're grieving and trying to forget about something you lost. Now, I want to know what that is because it's tearing you apart. More than what we once had, you're a friend. And friends care."

She looked at her hands. "I don't really want to talk about it, Jason. It's kind of personal."

He let the matter drop but watched her closely. Days passed, and he started to see a pattern. Whenever Lorne entered the room, Grace usually left. And the major snuck glances at her back when he thought no one was looking. Jason realized that _he_ was the problem. He still hadn't figured out how to solve it when he returned to active duty four months after nearly dying to save Major Lorne's life.

~TBC~


	9. Chapter 9

The village was deserted. Lorne frowned as Ramirez and Miller spread out to check the perimeter. There wasn't much here beyond several small farmhouses and a well, but there should have been people as well. Their absence concerned him. Within fifteen minutes, Miller and Ramirez had circled the village. Miller shook his head as he approached. "There's no one. Not even an animal."

A low moan came from between two houses. Lorne held up a fist. "Hold on." He listened for a moment and heard it again. "Over here."

Ramirez and Williams took up defensive positions while Lorne and Miller approached the bundle. A woman, about thirty, lay in a corner. Her brown dress was even darker thanks to dirt and body fluids that had soiled it beyond hope. Lorne wrinkled his nose at the smell and waited while Miller knelt over her.

Jason touched her forehead and started. "She's burning up."

Lorne moved in closer, ignoring the smell. The woman blinked slowly, her face covered in sweat and dirt. She looked like she'd collapsed right where she now lay. "Help." She licked her lips, and Lorne reached for his canteen. Miller held the woman's head and helped her drink.

"Where is everyone?" Lorne asked as gently as he could. He felt for her, but he needed to know why the village was abandoned. If the Wraith had set up a stronghold on this planet, they needed to know.

"Gone," the woman whispered. She tried to lift her hand but failed. "Inland. Away from . . . ." Her eyes drifted shut.

"Sir?" Miller eyed him. "She needs medical attention, and whatever did this to her could still be here."

Lorne nodded. "Let's get her back to Atlantis. Maybe Keller can help her." He suppressed the urge to speak of Grace. This kind of thing was what she used to do back on Earth, and she'd be right at home in a setting like this.

Ramirez came around the corner. "Sir, found something."

Lorne looked at Miller. "Stay with her." He followed Ramirez to an area outside of the village where the ground had been turned. "Graves."

"A lot of them. Too many, if you ask me."

"Okay." Lorne looked around. "Something happened here. The woman back there said that everyone had gone inland. Maybe to get away from what killed everyone."

"Or to get away from what made that woman sick?" Ramirez walked back to where Miller waited.

Williams knelt over the woman with Miller, but neither man moved. Miller looked up as Lorne approached and shook his head. "I'm sorry, sir. She went into convulsions while you were gone."

Lorne considered his options. He could leave the woman here or he could take her back to Atlantis. He looked at Miller. "You know how to get DNA?"

"Yeah."

"Do it."

"Yes, sir."

Less than two hours after he left Atlantis, Lorne returned, carrying blood and tissue samples from the dead woman. He reported in to Mr. Woolsey and took the samples to Dr. Keller. She agreed to work on them and told him that it was time for his team to wait.

A day later, Lorne joined his team, Sheppard's team, Mr. Woolsey, and Dr. Keller in the conference room. Keller looked tired, and McKay gave her a cup of coffee. Lorne settled in a chair between Miller and Sheppard and looked at the computer screen Keller had set up. "What are we looking at, Doc?"

"A virus." Keller pointed to the screen. "It's similar to the various flu strains we have back on Earth, but it's different. More virulent. And extremely resistant to all but our strongest antibiotics. I also think this is manmade. I won't know if it's a naturally occurring disease until I go back to the planet, treat a few of the sick, and do a few tests."

Woolsey held up a hand. "Wait a minute. Not only do we have to think about these people, but we have to think about us."

"Well, I could give our teams the flu vaccine. It showed signs of slowing the progression in simulations." Keller shrugged. "Beyond that, I don't know."

Lorne leaned forward. "Let's consider the threat to the planets that trade with these people. If one representative comes through the gate, he could carry this disease back to his home. Not to mention the people that moved inland. They could carry the disease with them."

Keller nodded. "We've seen diseases back on Earth where someone could be a carrier and not even know it."

Woolsey considered their words. "If we send someone to that planet, it could be a one-way trip. We don't even know the origin yet." He studied his hands. "On the other hand, we did promise the Planetary Coalition that we would take a more active role in the affairs o the galaxy. Okay. Dr. Keller, you accompany Major Lorne and his team back to the planet and see if you can figure this out. If necessary, we'll send supplies through the gate."

Keller nodded, but Lorne held up a hand. "With all due respect to Dr. Keller, I'd like to request Dr. Edgington on this. Field research and relief work are her specialties, and she has years of experience under her belt. Dr. Keller can assist her from here."

Woolsey agreed. "Get Dr. Edgington prepared. Good luck."

Lorne pushed away from the table, thoughts whirling. He had enough trouble ignoring Grace when he was on Atlantis. Being thrown together in this manner, with Miller in the mix, was not how he wanted to spend the next few days.

SGA SGA SGA SGA

Grace sat back from a microscope as the lab doors opened. She looked up as Dr. Keller and Lorne walked in. Jennifer gave her an encouraging look, and Evan appeared hesitant.

Keller walked over to her. "How do you feel about returning to your roots?"

"I'm sorry?" Grace eyed Lorne.

He moved to Keller's side. "We have something of an epidemic on another planet. Your experience in relief work would be a big help."

Grace looked at the sample under her microscope. The offer appealed far more than sitting in a lab somewhere. But it also meant that she'd have to spend an unknown number of days with Evan and Jason, watching people possibly die. Just the idea made her slightly queasy.

"Hey." Lorne leaned close, and Keller left them alone. "I know things between us aren't exactly the greatest. But I need you on this."

"And Jason?"

"I don't know." He held up a flash drive. "Please."

Grace stared at him. She'd wanted to resolve the issues between them for some time, but she wasn't sure how. This could be the opportunity she needed to do just that. Maybe, somewhere away from Atlantis, she and Evan could finally sit down and truly air what was on their minds. She smiled and took the flash drive. "Give me an hour to pack what gear I'll need. The remainder we can call for when I get to the planet and assess the situation."

He let her take the drive. "Thank you."

She smiled as he left and looked around. Excitement coursed though her, and not all of it related to her love for her work. Somehow, this moment had the feel of one that changed a life forever.

~TBC~


	10. Chapter 10

The trip through the Stargate was unlike anything Grace had ever experienced. Keller packed an overabundance of supplies for her, and Lorne had resorted to taking a Jumper through the gate. Knowing that she'd never really been in one, Jason had grinned at her and told her she would love it. And she did. Evan was a great pilot, and the trip through the Stargate ruined her addiction to rollercoasters. She said as much when they arrived on the other side, and the men chuckled.

Everyone sobered, however, when they reached the inland village. It looked like a refugee camp, with men, women, and children lying beneath scant tents and trees. A few buildings housed the extremely ill, and Grace fought with memories. This wasn't just getting back to her roots. It was returning to her nightmares. Those times in her life that she hadn't told anyone, not even Lorne, about. She swallowed and put on a strong face as Evan landed the Jumper. Those still able to walk huddled around as it opened.

An older woman, clearly ill but strong enough to stand, met them. "Who are you? We have nothing of value."

Lorne held up his hands. "We're here to help."

The woman snorted. "The only way you can help is to leave this place. We're all dying, and we know it."

Grace stepped forward and put a hand on Evan's arm. He glanced at her, and she nodded behind her. As he stepped back, she smiled. "I'm a doctor. A physician. I want to help you fight this thing."

"No one can fight this plague." The woman looked around. "We've tried. All our medicines are useless."

Grace smiled. "What's your name?"

"Neera."

"Neera, think about your children." Grace surveyed the faces. "I might be able to help you. In any case, I have different medicines, and those might help."

Neera thought about this. She was clearly the leader, and everyone else seemed willing to follow her. "It's your lives. If you want to waste them on us, who am I to stop you?"

Grace accepted her approval with a nod. "Okay, thank you, Neera."

"Just don't expect us to run your errands for you."

"I don't." Grace smiled and looked over Lorne and his men. "These men here are at my beck and call. They'll help me."

Neera snorted again. "Lucky you." She headed for the outskirts of the village. "Come and see what you've doomed yourself to."

Lorne quickly issued orders for Ramirez and Williams to stay with the Jumper. Grace followed Neera and felt Jason close behind. Lorne joined her a moment later.

In the village, Neera pointed out the various locations where the people had set up outdoor hospitals. One or two women worked each area, bathing faces and emptying chamber pots. The stench reminded Grace of her time in the refugee camps of Bosnia. Such squalor and helplessness. Her heart broke every time she saw a child huddled under threadbare blankets. She turned to the men following her. "Major, is there any way we could get another Jumper loaded with relief supplies? Blankets and such would go a long way here." She glanced around. "Not to mention provisions."

Evan nodded and spoke into the radio in his ear. Ramirez confirmed that he'd call Atlantis and make the request.

After a brief tour, Neera took her entourage back to the town center. The four gathered around a well, and Grace looked around. This was the largest area, and it would be the best place for her to set up a centralized lab. "Neera, I'm going to need a shelter of some sort to set up my equipment. Is there an empty house nearby that we could use?"

"There are always empty houses lately." Neera pointed. "There, there, and there. Those are closest to this square." She narrowed her eyes. "Why would people from the great Ancestral city want to help us? Wait, don't tell me. You're afraid this will spread to other planets."

"Yes." Grace knew Neera would accept nothing short of the truth. "I do need some help from your healthier people. I can't do this on my own, and four soldiers aren't going to care for all of your people. I will need you to keep doing what you're doing."

Neera seemed to be warming to the idea. "I will see that the sickest are brought here, to this square. Then, you'll be able to look out over them from your equipment."

"Good idea. Can you see to that?"

Neera shuffled away, and Grace turned to Evan. "I want to examine those houses, and then we need to set up a lab as quickly as possible. From the looks of it, these people are on the verge of extinction."

Lorne nodded and trailed her toward the first house that Neera had indicated. Jason stayed outside, keeping an eye on their six. Inside, Grace leaned against a beam holding the ceiling up. She hadn't expected to feel so overwhelmed so soon.

"Hey, you okay?" Evan appeared at her side.

"Yeah." She looked at him. "It's bringing back memories."

"Bosnia?"

"Yeah."

He touched her shoulder. "You can do this."

Grace nodded but wasn't so sure. She examined the remaining two houses and picked the first for her work. There were two small rooms off of a large central room. She intended to use one for autopsies. The other would house several cots. She already felt the strain of this type of work settling into the area between her shoulders.

SGA SGA SGA SGA

Grace had the central square of the village set up before nightfall. Lorne watched her work and did as he was told. She obviously knew what she was doing and what she wanted. He also noticed that Miller stayed out of her way. And his, for that matter. The lieutenant instead busied himself with carrying litters of sick people into the outdoor hospital. The healthiest, mostly women, were organized by Neera to continue to care for them. For all of her crude ways, Neera truly cared for these people. She had just been hardened by life. And Grace seemed to like her. Evan shook his head as he watched the two women share a cup of tea. Grace offered the steaming liquid to Neera, and the old woman sniffed it before drinking it.

Late that night, as he sat watch over the sleeping villagers, Neera appeared in the door of the house. "Your woman needs you."

He turned. "I'm sorry?"

She pinned him in place with a direct stare. "I might not be as smart as you people, but I know what I see. That girl in there needs you, and you need to see to her." She glanced around. "Don't worry. Your other men will cover the rest of us. Besides, you've got more coming." With that, she marched away.

Lorne ducked into the house. Grace sat hunched over a microscope, her glasses beside her hand. A computer displayed the same information Dr. Keller had shared at the briefing. He walked over. "You need something?"

"What?" Grace straightened, her eyes confused.

"Neera said you needed something."

She glanced around. "A cup of coffee, maybe. But I'm fine otherwise."

"I'll see what I can do." He turned to go.

"Evan." Grace stopped him by simply using his name. He turned, surprised that she was so familiar on assignment. She smiled. "Thanks for checking on me anyway."

He nodded and left. Jason found a canister of instant coffee among the supplies sent through the Stargate, and Lorne carried a cup of it back to Grace. She never fussed about the taste and went right back to her work. The following morning, he found her still working at her computer, muttering about how she was going to shoot whatever monster was responsible for starting this epidemic. Lorne chuckled quietly and woke Miller so he could get a few hours of sleep on one of the cots. He drifted off right away, never hearing Williams wake Ramirez or bring breakfast to Grace as she worked.

SGA SGA SGA SGA

The first of the children died a day later. Jason sat with the boy, bathing his face as he drifted in and out of delirium. Grace had already started the sickest on a treatment for the flu, but it had done little more than suppress the worst symptoms. She watched all her patients closely, and Jason began to see what had happened to the girl he'd loved in high school. As he tried to bring this boy's temperature down, he realized that he no longer loved Grace. He loved what she had been and the idea of what they had shared. But she was so different here. On Atlantis, she was still the girl he'd known. Here, she had transformed into a capable, driven, heroic doctor. In truth, he wasn't sure how to handle her.

Lorne seemed to have no problems. Jason watched the few interactions they had, noting how Grace drew strength from his commanding officer. And Lorne took his cues from Grace. After a long night on watch, he decided that he'd put in for a transfer back to Earth as soon as this mission ended. Those two clearly needed each other, and he wasn't going to stand in the way.

The boy under his care went into convulsions, and he called for Grace. She was nearby, and she worked as hard as she could to stabilize the boy. But, in spite of her best efforts, the child still slipped away. Jason covered the body with a blanket provided by Atlantis as Grace quietly gave him orders to take the boy to the lab. He knew she needed to do an autopsy, that the information she recovered would be invaluable. But he also saw how the child's death had impacted her. For a moment, she had stared in shock. Then, her mask slipped back in place, and she walked back to the house after giving him those sober orders.

Jason swept the square as he wrapped the blanket firmly around the boy's body. He found Lorne standing to the side, talking with a team of Marines who had arrived to help secure the location. Several other doctors had already waded into the relief effort, freeing Grace to work on finding the cure and coordinating everything. Now, Jason met Lorne's eyes and nodded toward the house where Grace had disappeared. The major understood and sent the Marines on their way. A moment later, he ducked into the lab.

When Lorne reappeared, Jason picked up the boy and carried him into the makeshift morgue. A table had been brought from Atlantis, and Grace stood nearby in full surgeon's gear. Her eyes were sad, but her voice was firm as she spoke. "Thank you, Lieutenant."

"Anything else you need?"

"Time." She met his eyes. "Let me do this and find out what I can. Just keep everyone as calm as possible."

Jason left her alone then, knowing that he wouldn't be able to stomach watching her cut a child open to find what had killed him. He stepped out of the house and wasn't surprised to find Lorne waiting for him. "Major."

"Lieutenant." Lorne looked around. "We've got a good perimeter established. The doc wants us to find out where this disease came from. If we can locate the origin of this disease, she thinks she'll be able to synthesize some sort of vaccine or cure."

Jason fell into step. "Sir, it's okay if you refer to her by name." He glanced over. "I understand."

Lorne glanced at him. "Now is not the time, Lieutenant." He stayed quiet for a few moments. "But, thank you."

Jason didn't respond. There was no need. He merely followed Lorne as he gathered Ramirez and Williams for their investigation.

~TBC~

**Author's Note: **Oooh! It's picking up. I told you it wouldn't stay fluff forever. Review and tell me what you think.


	11. Chapter 11

Grace finished the autopsy and released the boy for burial. Neera was furious at first, but Grace explained the need for the examination. She had discovered only what they already knew. This disease caused pneumonia-like symptoms at first. The more time she spent around it, the more convinced she became that this was a man-made sickness. Lungs filled with fluid were only one symptom. The rest, ranging from incontinence and high fevers to convulsions and bloody vomit, worried her. As did the fact that the Atlantis personnel seemed impervious while every villager, even Neera, showed symptoms. The old woman was just too stubborn to take to her bed.

After the autopsy, Grace claimed a cot for a few hours. Evan had been gone for just a short time, and she already missed him. His calm settled her quicker than anything else could. After he child's death, he'd found her hunched over her computer, close to tears. He had put a hand on her shoulder and held her hand when she reached for him. It helped steady her. Then, he went to investigate at her request.

Two days passed, during which time Grace watched three more people die. From what Neera said, these were the first among the village to show symptoms. Two were children, and one was an old man. Grace stood in the door of her lab, watching deathly ill parents mourn over their children. She let her tears flow down her face and returned to her work. If only she could find the source, she could solve this puzzle.

Neera entered the lab late that afternoon, her feet shuffling as she carried a bowl of stew to where Grace worked. The water in the well, as well as the ground, had been cleared of any type of pathogens. In fact, the environment was healthy. Neera set the bowl next to her. "Your man wants you."

Grace blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

"I said, your man wants you." Neera narrowed her eyes. "You call him 'Major,' though why I don't know. If I had someone that handsome coming around, I'd be calling him a different name."

"Major Lorne is not 'my man.'" Grace stood and headed for the door.

Neera let her go. "Keep telling yourself that. You just might believe it one day. That'll be a shame, though."

Grace left the old woman in the lab and joined Lorne and his team on the edge of the village square. They all looked haggard and in need of a shave, but they seemed okay. She glanced from face to face. "What did you find?"

"The first people to fall sick weren't from this village." Lorne looked around. "They were from the mountains. Apparently, Neera and her people never made the connection. We found the mountain town, and it's deserted. Nothing there. A path leads off into the mountains, but we were low on supplies and needed to inform you of what we found."

Grace nodded. "So, this didn't originate here." She let her gaze sweep over the sick. "Did you bring back samples?"

"Dirt, leaves, water, everything we could think of." Lorne shrugged. "I don't think you'll find much."

"Why?"

"This doesn't feel like . . .What do you call it?"

"An environmental hazard?"

"Yeah."

"Thank you for going." She accepted the samples from Jason. "I'll let you know what I find out."

Lorne and his men headed for the camp set up just on the outskirts of the square. She was halfway back to the lab when she realized that she needed something from them. She whirled. "Major!"

He stopped. "Yes?"

"I need blood samples from you and your men."

"Okay." Lorne nodded his team toward the lab. As he walked, he glanced at her. "Mind telling me why?"

"Because no one from Atlantis is sick." She placed the soil and water samples beside her computer. "That might be the key to finding a medicine that treats this."

"But all of our personnel were vaccinated against every known pathogen before leaving Earth."

"That has crossed my mind. I'm hoping that I find some reason why we're immune. Or resistant. For all we know, we could carry the disease, and our immune systems fight it off."

Lorne agreed, and she collected blood samples from the four men. Then, they left her alone and went to clean up. She returned to work, the stew Neera had brought forgotten in the rush of new material to work with.

SGA SGA SGA SGA

Later that evening, Lorne found Grace staring at a computer screen, nearly asleep with her head propped on her hand. He closed the door to the square and stepped forward. "Doc?"

She startled awake. "Major. I didn't hear you come in."

"You were dozing." He felt better after a shave and some fresh clothes, but she hadn't had that opportunity in a while. She would always be a beautiful woman, but dark circles hovered under her eyes. Her hair had been pulled into a plain bun, and she looked as if she'd been crying. "Go get some rest and some clean clothes. I'll hold down the fort here."

"I'm just waiting on the test results from the Atlantis personnel." She shuffled papers around. "I took samples from everyone, even myself. I hope this works."

"Well, I radioed Atlantis his afternoon, asking for another Jumper and more supplies." He resisted the urge to take her hand. "Woolsey is working with Dr. Keller, trying to figure out how many more resources they can spare for this."

"We're close." She shook her head. "I can feel it."

"Go get some rest."

Grace accepted that and headed for the door. She stopped and turned to smile at him. "Thanks, Evan."

"You're welcome." He watched her go, thinking about Miller's words a few days ago. Apparently, the lieutenant had come to some sort of realization. Just what that was remained a mystery, but Evan knew this wasn't the time or the place to act on the hopes his conversation with Miller had stirred. He was tired of pretending. Tired of pushing her away. Tired of the triangle that had developed over the course of the last months.

A machine beeped, and Lorne stared at the screen. He didn't understand much of it, but he knew what part of it meant. One of his men was sick. He glanced at the name, and his heart sank. A moment later, he touched he radio in his ear. "Doc, it's Lorne. You might want to get back to the lab. I have something, and it's not good."

~TBC~

**Author's Note:** Anyone up for more? Review and let me know!


	12. Chapter 12

Grace ducked back into the house at Evan's call. He stood next to the computer, looking grim and angry. Without another word, she stepped into the area he vacated and bent to survey the results blinking on the screen. This couldn't be happening. She closed her eyes, willing herself not to cry. It was happening.

"Okay." She straightened and turned to the man behind her, surprised he didn't move back a step or two. She took another deep breath. "Get him in here. And then. . . ." Her voice cracked.

Lorne touched her shoulder again. How he could stand there with so much pain and death around him and still be strong for her was surprising. He met her eyes. "You're going to beat this."

"I know." But she didn't sound as confident as her words. "Just get back to that village. Find me something I can work with."

Lorne accepted that and stepped out of the house. Grace pressed her palms into the table holding the microscope and her computer. She'd already watched three children die. Now, she was going to have to watch one of her friends die. She didn't know if she could do this.

Jason slipped through the door. "Major Lorne said you wanted to see me."

"Yeah." Grace straightened and studied him. He showed no signs of the disease. Maybe, just maybe, they'd caught it early enough. "I need you to give more blood and to stay here. Major Lorne and the rest will be investigating the lab in the mountains."

Realization dawned on his face. "I've got it, don't I?"

"Yes." That one word was the hardest she'd ever spoken. Suddenly, the past and the complications he had caused for her while on Atlantis no longer mattered. "I'm sorry, Jason."

He shrugged out of his tac vest and moved toward a chair. "Where do you want me?"

"Inside." Grace pulled herself together, hiding all of her anger, frustration, and sadness under her doctor's face. "You'll stay here, in one of the cots. I want to make sure we keep Atlantis personnel separate. At least until we know what we're dealing with." She didn't add that it might not matter anymore.

Jason gave her another blood sample and then moved to look out the window. Grace watched him, thinking back to Lorne's suggestion that she take a few minutes. Right now, her hands were tied anyway. Until the team got back from the lab, there was nothing she could do. She looked at Jason. "Stay here. I'm going to change clothes. I'll be back soon."

SGA SGA SGA SGA

Lorne decided to take a Jumper to the mountain village. The path leading out of the village was too small of the Jumper, and he didn't want to risk missing something. So, after landing in the abandoned square, he and his men, minus one, slipped into the woods. The hike was easy, but they never lowered their guard. The only sounds were those of birds and insects humming.

Several clicks from the Jumper, Lorne spotted an opening in a stone wall. He held up his hand. "Ramirez, cover us. Williams, with me."

The new guy on the team followed him into the dark cavern. They switched on the lights attached to their P90s, and Lorne frowned. While the outside of the cave looked natural, a steel door led deeper into the cave. The door was open, and a security panel blinked next to it.

"Sir." Williams turned. "This looks Genii."

"Great." Lorne touched his radio. "Ramirez, we're heading deeper into the cave. There's a door here that might be easier to guard."

"Yes, sir," Ramirez replied. A moment later, he appeared and took up a position beside the door.

Lorne left him to his watch and took point. The corridor was clearly manmade, and lights had been driven into the rock wall. Only a few of them flickered menacingly ahead, lighting the tunnel at odd spots. Lorne kept his weapon ready, knowing any number of things could go wrong. He pulled his life signs detector from his vest and scowled. Nothing. The only life signs showing were those of his team.

Williams tripped over the first body. Lorne reacted to his startled voice by training the P90 on whatever had attacked. Instead, Williams nudged the guard. "Definitely Genii."

Lorne scowled. "Definitely sick with whatever disease is killing these people."

They moved further into the cave and found two more Genii guards before they found the lab. Lorne looked around, surprised that he hadn't thought of this. Keller had said that this disease was manmade. No wonder the entire planet was sick. The Genii had a way of causing mass destruction no matter where they went.

"Sir!" Williams stood at a terminal. "I found something. It's a log of some sort."

"Can you read it?"

"Some of it." Williams glared at the screen. "My Genii isn't as good as others, but I think this was the chief scientist's log. His personal observations on 'the project.'"

Lorne stared at him. "Well, does it say what 'the project' was?"

"No, sir." Williams glared some more. "Whoa."

"Whoa what?"

"I think we found the source of the disease."

"In a Genii lab?" Lorne looked around. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

"What bothers me is that there's dead guards." Williams' fingers flew across the strange keyboard. "I'm going to take this with us back to the village. Maybe Dr. Edgington can make more sense out of the medical mumbo-jumbo."

"Good idea. Let's sweep this place before we go." Lorne shrugged. "There might be some sort of antidote we don't know about yet."

Williams finished working and swept the remainder of the lab. They found vials of several substances that they carefully carried back to the Jumper, but nothing else stood out to them. Once they finished their work, Lorne flew the Jumper back to Grace's command post.

She met them outside the door to her makeshift lab. "Did you find anything?"

"You could say that." Lorne held up the case where he'd carefully stored the substances found in the lab. "There's a Genii lab in a cave. I think it's where the virus came from, but I'm not sure how or why. Williams has a computer file you might find helpful. And we brought back these. They might be an antidote, or they could be the virus. I just don't know."

She nodded and tried to smile. "Thank you, Major."

"How's Miller?" He didn't want to focus on how tired she looked.

Grace's face tensed. "The fever started about an hour ago, along with the cough."

Lorne knew what she didn't say. If she wasn't able to find a cure soon, Miller, and possibly the rest of them, were going to die. Ignoring the marines around the camp and the fever-brightened eyes of the sick, he pulled her into his arms. Grace slid her arms around his waist and buried her face in his neck. Lorne closed his eyes and prayed for a miracle.


	13. Chapter 13

Jason's condition deteriorated rapidly. Grace worked around the clock to find the solution to this disease. The Genii log was informative in an unhelpful way. It appeared that the nameless Genii scientist had started the project to cure his wife from some sort of cancer. The Pegasus galaxy version of chemotherapy. The experiments had gone horribly wrong, leaving three Genii guards as well as an entire population sick. Lorne returned to the lab and brought back the bodies of the guards so that Grace could perform autopsies. Unfortunately, she didn't find anything that could help her. She sighed and turned back to the log. It was her best bet.

Late that night, a gentle shake woke her. She blinked and frowned at the pain in her neck. She had fallen asleep at the computer again, her body demanding the rest she refused to give it.

Evan stood next to her. "You should rest."

Grace shook her head. "Even if I wanted to, I couldn't." She straightened and rolled her shoulders, trying to work out the stiffness.

Without being asked, Evan moved behind her and began massaging the sore muscles. At any other time, she would have moved away. But she was too tired to keep pretending that it didn't matter. Just the simple touch of his hands and the knowledge that he was there bolstered her courage.

Grace had just begun to drift when Ramirez stepped back into the room. He looked at Lorne's hands on her shoulders and stiffened. "Sorry."

"It's okay." She stood, hating how her shoulders seemed cold without his hands working the sore muscles. To his credit, Lorne didn't move away from her. "What do you need?"

Ramirez glanced back into the room. "Jason's asking for you. For both of you."

Grace thanked him and slipped into the makeshift sickroom. Jason lay on the bed, covered in a thick sheen of sweat. The bloody vomit had begun an hour before Lorne woke Grace, and she saw the signs of the end. Tears filled her eyes even as she ignored the stench of death to sit on the cot next to him.

"Gracie." Jason swallowed, clearly struggling to breathe. His eyes moved. "Major, thanks for coming."

"Anytime." Lorne moved to the other side of Jason's cot, and he dropped onto one knee. "Doc's gonna get you fixed up in no time."

Jason shook his head. "I know what's happening." A coughing fit wracked his body, and Grace held a silver bowl as he wretched. When nothing came up, he settled back on his cot, trembling in spite of the heat radiating off of him. "I'm not gonna make it."

Grace lost the fight with her tears. They began to make their way down her cheeks even as she admitted the truth to herself. "Jason, I'm sorry."

He smiled at her. "Just do what you can to make sure no one else dies." His voice choked. "I've always thought the world of you, Gracie."

"I know."

"The major's a good man." Jason's words startled her, and she glanced at Lorne. Jason grinned. "Let him take care of you." His head turned to look at his CO. "Sir, take care of her."

"I will," Lorne agreed. He wasn't crying, but Grace saw the tears standing in his eyes. "Take it easy, Lieutenant. The end hasn't come yet."

Jason smiled but didn't say anything else. Seemingly happy to have said his piece, he closed his eyes and drifted into unconsciousness. Grace put a hand to her mouth and tried to control her tears. In all of the time she'd been working like this, she'd never lost a friend. She didn't want to start now.

Jason went into convulsions an hour later, and the end came quickly after that. Grace held herself together long enough to cover his body with a blanket and order someone to move it into the other room for an autopsy. Then, she left the house and left the village. She had to get away from the sickness and death around her. She didn't care how much of a scene she made as she ran down a path toward the distant woods in her white lab coat. She needed fresh air and an untainted environment, even if only for a few minutes.

Grace ran until she couldn't breathe any longer. She stopped and put her hands on her knees, fighting to regain her breath while sobbing loudly. She'd run a fair distance, and she was surprised when gentle hands grabbed her shoulders. Evan had followed her, as she knew he would. He gathered her into his arms and held her as she cried.

~TBC~

**Author's Note:** I know this is a short chapter, but it was an intense one to write. More to come soon. Let me know what you think. . . .


	14. Chapter 14

The sun rose before Grace attempted to begin the autopsy on Jason Miller. Lorne had followed her on her emotional run just to make sure she was okay. When she stopped and bent over, he knew he needed to intervene. She needed him to keep her from falling apart before they found the cure to this thing. She didn't need to know that he cried along with her.

Now, as Grace gathered an assistant and stepped into the room to perform the autopsy, Lorne walked into the Jumper. Atlantis needed to know of this development, and he needed to clear his head. The young lieutenant had died too swiftly. There were people in this village who had held on for days before going into a coma or dying. Jason Miller had barely made it twenty-four hours. With these thought in mind, he flew the Jumper to the gate and dialed Atlantis.

"How are the relief efforts?" Woolsey asked when he made contact.

"Good." Lorne hated how normal his voice sounded. Hated the news he had to share and how easy it would be to share it. But, death had become a part of every day life on this planet. "Is Colonel Sheppard with you?

Sheppard's voice came over the radio link. "I'm here."

"Sir, I'm sorry to tell you that we've lost Lieutenant Miller." The scripted words sounded so empty compared to the suffering the young lieutenant had gone through. Lorne sighed and let some of his grief bleed into his voice. "He got sick yesterday."

There was a long silence before Sheppard spoke again. "How are you and Dr. Edgington holding up?"

"I'm fine." Lorne rubbed his eyes. "The doc's a little shaken. She and Miller went back to high school."

Woolsey spoke this time. "And our people?"

"Aside from being worn out, the rest of our people appear healthy. The doc is pushing herself too hard, but I expected that." He leaned back in his chair. "And I think I know where this virus came from." In a controlled voice, he told Sheppard and Woolsey about the Genii lab he'd found.

Sheppard listened and then said, "We'll check into that. Just keep doing what you're doing. Let us know if anything changes."

"Will do. Lorne out." He sat in the quiet Jumper and stared as the gate shut down.

This wasn't how it was supposed to end. He was supposed to bring his people home every time, not carry them home in a casket. Jason Miller might have been an obstacle between Lorne and the woman he loved, but he was still a young lieutenant with a lot of life in front of him. No matter how many personal issues they had between them, Miller didn't deserve to die.

_Sir, take care of her._ Miller's last words to him circled in his mind as he turned the Jumper back toward the village. As if he would do anything else. Grace had a way of inserting herself in a guy's life and not letting go. Lorne knew this was what she'd done, however unintentionally, to Miller. When she came to Atlantis, Miller had no choice but to follow his heart even if he knew their past was in the past. Lorne didn't want that to happen to him, but he had no idea how to fix what was done. He had put up a wall, after all, and Grace had allowed it.

Lorne made sure he was waiting when Grace finished the autopsy. The quick flight to the Stargate hadn't taken as much time as she needed. When she left the room, he stood and waited while she handed some tissue samples to another doctor. Then, ignoring every eye in the room, she walked into his arms.

"Hey." Evan smiled involuntarily as she rubbed her face on the front of his shirt. Beside him, Ramirez and Williams herded everyone outside. "How did it go?"

She pulled back but didn't leave his arms. "Fine. Like any other thing around here." She looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "Can you just take me away from here? Just for a while. I know I have work to do, but I'm waiting for lab results anyway."

Away. That required a flight around the planet since they weren't able to leave this world. Miller's death had proven that Atlantis personnel weren't immune as they once hoped. He thought about it for a moment. "You're sure? The moment we step into that Jumper, every person out there is going to start gossiping. Believe me, my men will be the first ones to speak."

She stared at him. "I'm tired, Ev. I'm tired of fighting, of pretending, of acting like nothing is wrong or right. I don't care what people say anymore. You're not my CO, and I don't want to waste another moment." She stepped out of his arms and moved to the window, wrapping her arms around her midsection. "Besides, if I don't get away from the smell and sounds, I'm going to go crazy. I've never seen anything like this before. Even back on Earth, it wasn't this bad. I always knew I could catch a plane and fly home. Here, I can't. Until I find the cure, this _is _my home."

So she was feeling trapped. Lorne knew she'd seen worse than this during her time in Bosnia. But, she was right. On Earth, she could hop on a plane and fly out of Sarajevo or wherever she'd been and land in a clean, healthy city in the U.S. Or England, if she went to see her brother. Lorne stirred. "Okay. Give me a few minutes."

Grace nodded and waited beside the window while he stepped outside. Ramirez and Williams gathered around. "Sir, is she okay?"

"No." Lorne pulled all of the men together. "I'm taking her for a flight. She needs to get away from all of this for a time and get her head together. She and Miller go way back, and she just performed an autopsy on a very old friend. I need you guys to hold down the fort while we're gone."

A chorus of "Yes, Sirs" sounded around the group, and the various Marine leaders assigned their men to cover the absence. Ramirez allowed a small grin to escape as he looked at Lorne. "When this is over, I get to tease you mercilessly."

Lorne shook his head. "When this is over, I'll let you. Right now, let's take care of the doc who's going to save all our hides."

The Marines may have accepted his story about Grace's past with Miller, but his men saw right through him. Lorne could have cared less about what they thought. He needed to get Grace out of here so she could find the space she needed.

She still stood by the window, but he saw signs of preparation. A bag that probably contained clean clothes and some toiletries sat next to her feet. He picked it up and escorted her to the Jumper. Once in the air, he turned it away from the mountains and away from the village. "Just tell me where you want to sit down."

Grace nodded, and a ghost of a smile touched her face. "Thank you."

He eyed her. "Don't mention it."

SGA SGA SGA SGA

"There." Grace pointed at a valley with a stream running through it. "Where the water comes out of the mountains."

Evan glanced at her. "You're sure."

She nodded. "It's about as idyllic as I can think of, and I would like to get in the water."

He shifted in his seat. "You're sure that's a good idea?"

"Yes." She rubbed her eyes, feeling the grit of too much work and too little sleep. "I've already determined that this virus is not in the water. I still don't know how the people got it, but it passes from one person to another. Miller likely contracted it while helping one of the sick men or women around the village."

Evan piloted the Jumper near the stream and landed. "Here it is, then."

Grace looked at him for the first time since leaving the village. "Thank you." She gathered her things and left him sitting in the Jumper. At any other time, she might have considered asking him to join her under the waterfall. But, now, she just wanted the running water to wash away the grime and tears that coated her from head to toe. Seeing that he had landed in such a way as to give her what privacy trees could afford, she began to shed her sweat-soaked clothes and waded into the cold stream.

The water set her teeth to chattering as she swam to the middle of the pool. She felt the current of the waterfall and was careful about getting too close. Several rocks formed great perches for later, but, right now, she reveled in the way the water cleansed the days of work and tension away.

After using the waterfall as a shower to wash her hair, Grace left the pool and dressed. She'd missed the simple comforts of life on Atlantis more than she thought she would. She still didn't see Evan and wondered where he'd gone. Not too far, though. He would never leave her unprotected. After washing her dirty clothes, she went looking for him.

Somehow, the man had managed to find a sketch pad in the Jumper. Grace shook her head as he looked up. Seated on a large rock near the surface of the water, he stopped sketching the meadow and stared. She blushed at his appraising look and used stepping stones to cross the stream. "Thanks, again."

He cleared his throat. "No problem."

Rather than crowding him, Grace spread her towel on the ground and sat with her back toward the sun. The warmth would dry her hair, and she wanted to watch Evan as he worked. Funny, how the setting had transitioned her thoughts of him from "Lorne" to "Evan." She didn't argue, though, and enjoyed the comfortable quiet that had always characterized their relationship. As she sat there, she was easily able to imagine nights spent beside a fireplace or on Atlantis without a word passing between them.

Her eyes went to the stream, and Grace sobered. This little bit of heaven after a whole lot of hell didn't take away her memories of the sick. The stream flowed, and she thought of time. How time kept moving even when someone became stuck like a rock. The water of time just pushed everything along with it, eventually smoothing the stone until it formed a beautiful spot in the stream. A small rock tumbled past, and Grace's mind went to Jason.

Her sniffle pulled Evan's head around, and he set the sketch pad aside. "Hey." He left the rock behind and settled on the ground next to her. His nearness was overwhelming. "I understand."

Those two words were enough to open the floodgates. Grace let him pull her into his arms as she wept. Memories of her time in high school swept through her mind and down the stream of time. She'd never loved Jason Miller, but she had cared for him. Even after coming to Atlantis, she hadn't wished anything evil on him. She just wanted to be with the man she loved without having to worry about what it would do to someone else. _The major's a good man. Let him take care of you._ Jason's words floated through her mind, and she realized that she didn't want to fight them anymore.

She straightened. "About what Jason said at the end."

Evan smiled, his face mere inches from hers. "I won't be far away. Even when you try to push me away."

Grace found a smile in spite of the grief. "Good." She felt her hair and realized it was as close to dry as it would get. "Let's get back."

Evan nodded and helped her to her feet. Before leaving the meadow, he pulled her close and kissed her softly. It wasn't a kiss full of passion, just one of comfort with the promise of more to come. Grace sat next to him, skillfully fixing her hair as they flew back to the village. She would find the cure for this disease. She _had_ to. If she didn't, she'd be stuck on this planet forever and unable to introduce her brother to the man who made her world a brighter place to live.

~TBC~

**Author's Note:** Okay, so this was a bit of fluff after a very intense several chapters. But, every person, whether real or fictional, needs time to think and not worry. The next few chapters will pick up again, so don't worry. This isn't the end!


	15. Chapter 15

Grace had not paid much attention to the time when they'd left the village. Lorne watched as she made herself comfortable in the co-pilot's chair of the Jumper and promptly fell asleep. The tension in her face drained away, and he kept flying even though he could have reached the village within the hour. She needed to sleep. He and everyone else at the village needed her to sleep.

Three hours later, she began to stir. Lorne turned the Jumper back toward the village and made sure to smile at her when she opened her eyes. She was so adorable when she first awoke. One hand came up in an uncoordinated effort to rub her eye, and then she stretched. His smile turned into a grin. He'd heard of people looking like a cat, but he'd never seen it until now.

Grace eyed him. "How long was I out?"

He glanced at his watch. "About three-and-a-half hours. I've just been flying in circles until you woke up."

"You should have woke me!"

"And what?" The lighthearted side of their relationship vanished, and Lorne felt himself turn back into the military commander he was. "Grace, I need you rested and thinking straight, not punch drunk because you refuse to sleep."

That made her think. "But you should have gone straight back to the village." Her protest was weak, and she knew it.

Lorne flew the Jumper back to the village and landed in the same place it had been when they'd left. Five hours was a long time to be gone, but it was needed. Grace had found some peace, and she went back to work with gusto.

A day later, Lorne woke from a catnap on a cot with tightness across his chest. He scowled at the sky peeking through the window. Clouds had been threatening since yesterday, and Grace wasn't happy. The humidity only increased the discomfort of the sick and made the Marines slightly cranky. Lorne swung his feet over the side of the cot, not liking the dizziness that swamped him as he stood. Once he regained his balance, he allowed Ramirez to take the cot.

In the main portion of the house, Grace hunched over a microscope while Williams worked next to her. Shortly after they arrived back at the village, another load of supplies came through the gate on a MALP. Someone, probably McKay, had tucked a laptop with a Genii translating program into the supplies. Williams now worked with Grace as they interpreted the Genii log from the lab in the mountains. For the first time, Grace looked hopeful when she caught sight of him.

That hopefulness disappeared as she stared. "Major? You look peaked." She stood and moved quickly across the room, appearing like the researcher he'd known back on Atlantis. Her hands were cool when they grabbed his wrist and touched his forehead. "You're burning up!"

Behind her, Williams had straightened. "Sir?"

"I'm fine." Lorne tried to smile, but the band around his chest was making it hard to breathe.

"No, you're not fine." Grace pushed him toward a chair next to her desk. She snapped on some latex gloves and grabbed a needle. "I need a blood sample. Now. And I need one from you, Williams. Get Ramirez up and in here."

Williams jumped to do her orders. "Yes, ma'am."

Lorne leaned his head back against the wall, not willing to pretend anymore. He felt awful. Grace cursed when his vein rolled in his arm, and she tried again. Lorne didn't protest, knowing she was working to save his life. She looked at him, her face so close he could feel her breath. "When did you start feeling this?"

"Late last night." He lifted his head and watched as she pulled the needle from his arm. As she pressed a cotton ball on the bleeding puncture point, he tried to smile. "I'll be fine. I've got you."

Doubt flared in her eyes, but she clamped down on it pretty quick. "Williams just cracked the Genii log, so we should be close now. If there's nothing in the log that can help us, then I don't know what I'm going to do."

Ramirez chose that moment to appear. "Sir?"

Grace whirled. "Right now, the major is in no condition to lead, so I'm in charge. Sit."

Lorne would have chuckled at how quickly Ramirez plopped his behind in a chair if he'd felt better. He still managed a grin. "Good boy."

"Shut up, Sir." The other man rolled up his sleeve, clearly understanding what was happening. Grace called Williams over and demonstrated how to take a blood sample. Once she had their blood in vials, she sent Williams out to collect samples from all the Marines.

Ramirez returned to the cot, willing to get some sleep. Lorne refused to move. He wanted to be near Grace as she worked. He wanted to take care of her, not leave her alone to fight this on her own. Unfortunately, he felt awful. The longer he sat up, the more his head spun. Deep breaths were impossible.

Grace went to work, her face betraying the calm swiftness of her hands. She was scared. Lorne allowed her to insert an IV into his arm and inject him with some antibiotics. Even he knew it was a stall tactic. This virus wasn't like anything they'd seen before. But, Grace had to do everything in her power to help them.

Williams returned with blood samples, and Grace went to work. She watched Evan closely, seeing how he drifted in and out of sleep even though he sat straight up. Williams eyed his CO, concern in his young face. Suddenly, Grace knew what Evan felt when he assured his team that things would be fine. Putting on a strong face for the young officer, she smiled. "He'll be fine."

"Yes, ma'am."

Grace worked in silence for a long time. The blood samples from the other Marines came back. About half of them showed signs of being infected with the virus. The other half, including Ramirez, seemed fine. Grace carefully took a sample of her own blood and ran it through the same tests. The results caused her to sit down next to Evan.

She was infected. Any time now, she would get sick. Then, what would they do? What would happen to Evan, to everyone? She'd never once considered that she, the head doctor on site, would catch whatever this disease was. She looked at Evan next to her. His face was pale, and his hair stuck up at odd angles, a result of running his hands through it. She had to find a cure.

Grace stood. "Ramirez!" Her call startled Williams and woke Evan from his light sleep. When the Hispanic soldier ran into the room, she pointed. "Get the major in a cot. Out here. I want our men where I can see them."

"Grace, I'm fine," Lorne protested weakly from his seat.

"No. You're not fine." She met his eyes. They were clear in spite of the fever that attacked his body. "For that matter, neither am I or Williams. About half our men are sick. And, if I don't find the cure in the next twenty-four hours, we're going to start losing people." Her voice cracked as she realized that Evan would probably be one of the first to surrender to this thing.

Ramirez hurried to obey her orders as she went back to the computer. Williams had managed to translate most of the Genii logs, and she went back to studying the information with the same hopefulness she'd had before. She had to keep up appearances. If she didn't, she'd fall apart and never be able to work again.

~TBC~

**Author's Note: **Okay, so I'm not real pleased with the title. If you have any ideas from reading this far, please let me know. "Reluctant Grace" was give to this story long before this point, and it just doesn't fit where the plot is taking it. Like always, let me know what you think.


	16. Chapter 16

Midnight approached before a breakthrough occurred. Grace sat next to her desk, reading through the last of the Genii scientist's log. Williams had given up a few hours ago, citing a headache from eyestrain. She knew better. The young officer now rested on a cot, fever eating at him.

Grace looked up from the computer screen and saw Evan across the room. He lay on his side, his back propped on the wall. About an hour ago, he'd begun vomiting, and the position made it easy to reach the pot near his cot. Grace's heart fell as she watched his body tremble from the fever. He'd always been so strong and in control. As he stirred and fought with another bout of coughing, she left her glasses beside the computer and crossed the room. The retching began as she neared, and she held the pot until he finished purging the bit of water that Ramirez had force-fed him thirty minutes ago. Grace set the pot down and smiled. She knew how bad his condition was. His fever-brightened eyes moved, and he reached up to touch her face.

The action brought tears to her eyes as he drifted back to sleep. Evan was holding on for her and for the rest of his men. Grace sat with him for a few more minutes before she moved back to her computer. The band had crept around her chest about an hour ago, and she already felt the fever as it spread through her body.

"Doc." Ramirez stood in front of her, a cup of coffee in his hands. He set the cup next to her elbow and crouched beside her. "Why the major and Williams? Why not me?"

Grace scowled at him as she considered this. Why wasn't Ramirez sick? "I don't know," she admitted. "Maybe Jason got so sick because he was injured. A person's immune system doesn't always recover as quickly as the rest of us. Maybe that's why Major Lorne is so sick as well. But Williams has me puzzled." And she hated to admit when she was puzzled.

Ramirez nodded and glanced across the room. "If you want to call him by his first name, I think everyone here will understand."

Grace smiled when she realized he was giving her permission to reveal her feelings for Lorne in front of his men and everyone else. "Thank you, Ramirez. I'll remember that." She paused. "When you went to the Genii lab, did you go inside with Maj-Evan and Williams?"

Ramirez grinned when she corrected herself. "No. I stood at the door, watching our six."

"Oh." She frowned at the computer screen. "Maybe that's why you're not sick."

The officer moved on to the next cot, and Grace went back to reading. The tickle in the back of her throat urged her to cough, but she knew what would happen if she did. The vomiting and high fevers came after that. She wanted to stall as long as possible until she could figure out a cure for this mess.

A cold wind made her shiver, and she looked up to see who had entered the room. Neera. Grace frowned. The woman had taken sick around the time Jason had died, and Grace had been so wrapped up in her work that she'd not found Neera's pallet. Now, Neera approached her, swaying from the fever that ravaged her body. "You should have told me."

Grace grinned, appreciating Neera's direct approach to everything. "There's nothing you could have done."

Neera glared at her briefly. "I will sit with your man and his soldiers. You work."

This time, Grace didn't argue that Lorne wasn't "her man." Neera had apparently seen what they'd refused to admit when they first arrived. In the wake of death and illness, however, pretenses disappeared. _Is this what they mean by "for better or poorer, in sickness and in health?"_ The thought whispered through Grace's mind and lodged in the place governed by emotion. Did she really feel that strongly for Evan Lorne?

Grace went back to her computer screen and stilled. There, in the final entry of the Genii's log, was the key she needed. At least, she thought it was the key. She read the entry several times, absorbing the implications. Then, she straightened. "Ramirez!"

"Yeah, Doc?" He quickly moved to her side, and she saw Evan stir at the sound of her voice.

"Leave the men to Neera. I need you over here." Grace rushed to clear a place on the table. Most of the discarded ideas that had come up in the course of their time here landed on the floor. She pointed at the computer screen. "Read that to me. Make sure I'm seeing what I think I'm seeing, and it's not a hallucination."

Ramirez blinked but began to read. He stumbled over the medical jargon, but Grace urged him on. Her eyes went to Evan as she listened. If this worked, she'd have a cure for him by morning. _If_ it worked. When Ramirez quit reading, she grinned. "Do you have any idea what this means?"

"Honestly, Doc? No." Ramirez looked puzzled. He motioned to himself. "Not a doctor."

"Right." She pointed at the screen, interpreting as she did so. "The Genii doctor tried to reverse whatever disease his wife had by introducing mutated viral cells from a childhood disease found on this planet. His idea was that the mutated viral cells would attack the tumor growing in his wife's body, thus eliminating the tumor. But something went wrong. The mutated cells cured the tumor, but they attacked the rest of her organs, shutting them down as they went. That's why we can't seem to fight this thing. It's natural, but it's been genetically engineered."

"So, what do we do?"

Grace sighed. "I don't know. Let me think." A few hours later, she had a formula written, and she began to plug the information into the computer. Ramirez watched her closely, and Neera swayed as she moved between the cots. The woman should have been in her own bed, allowing someone to care for her. But she refused to listen, and Grace appreciated her presence.

Just as the sky began to lighten, Grace sat back from her work. She'd run computer simulations and mixed chemicals until she was unable to work. Her hands now shook, thanks to the trembling every slightest breeze caused, and she paused often to empty her stomach. Evan had slipped in and out of consciousness for hours. As she worked, she kept an eye on him and on his condition. Noting that he was awake, she filled a syringe with her concoction and moved toward his bed.

"Hey." He smiled at her as she sat next to him. "You are beautiful."

Grace was sure the fever had caused some delirium. She still smiled as Ramirez and another Marine helping glanced over with wide grins. "Thanks. You're not looking too bad yourself."

Evan chuckled, which caused another round of coughing. He didn't try to lean over the pot next to his cot. There was nothing on his stomach to come up. "You find something?" he asked roughly when he finished.

"I think so." She took a deep breath and let it out. "I'm not a hundred percent sure, but Ramirez has read me the results of the few simulations I've been able to run. It should work." She studied him, noting how bright his eyes were. "Then, it might not. I just don't have time to run any more simulations."

"What is it?"

She rattled off several chemical names she knew he wouldn't understand. "Basically, it attacks the mutated virus from the inside. This sickness is known on this world. The reason their normal means of treating it aren't working is because the Genii engineered some Wraith medicine into it. They hoped to speed the healing process along. Instead, the Wraith medicine mutated the virus, making it even more contagious and even more deadly."

Evan nodded, his brows lowering. "So, you've found a way to deal with it?"

"I hope so." She shrugged. "I've combined the normal treatment with some of the medication Dr. Beckett used when Colonel Sheppard was infected with the retrovirus. According to the simulations, it works. But, simulations only take me so far, and I don't have time." Only six more hours remained in Evan's twenty-four-hour period. In that time, he could become critical and die. She sighed. "The reason our people are more susceptible is because they don't have a natural immunity built up from living on this world."

"Oh." He nodded. "I trust you. Do it."

Grace took a deep breath and reached for the IV canula still in his arm. The bag had run dry a long time ago, and they hadn't been able to replace it. Her hands shook as she administered the largest dose she dared. Evan's eyes drifted closed briefly, but he moved to take her hand. She sat with him, holding his hand until he slipped back into unconsciousness.

Grace moved back to her computer. There was enough medicine synthesized for four more people. She scanned the room. Williams wasn't sick enough yet, and she saw four Marines who could use it. Guilt nipped at the back of her brain as she prioritized lives in order to try to save more.

Ramirez appeared beside her. "You get one dose." The tone of his voice reminded her of Evan when he put his foot down.

She stood. "You don't get to make that call."

"Yes, I do." He pointed to where the other doctor helping her lay. "He just died."

Grace stared at the body of her colleague. She hadn't known him well, but he'd been a help to her for this entire ordeal. And he died without her knowledge. She looked back to Ramirez. "How did I miss that?"

Ramirez glanced at Lorne and then grinned. "You were dealing with something a little close to home." He grabbed one of the syringes she'd filled. "Now, tell me how to do this."

Grace walked him through the process, too tired to complain when he jabbed the needle too hard. As the medicine entered her veins, she sighed. She knew it would take ten minutes or so for any effects to be noticeable, but it was a relief to finally have a possible cure. After Ramirez finished administering the medication, she sent him to the three worst cases and turned to her computer. By the time he came back to her side, she had the information he needed coded into a transmission burst.

"I need you to head to the Stargate." She gave him the computer. "They need to begin synthesizing as much as possible right away. Radio me just before you dial, and I'll let you know if it's working."

Ramirez collected his vest and headed out the door. Grace looked around. There wasn't much for her to do now. Everything depended on her judgment and one pilot flying for the Stargate. Rather than sit at her desk, she returned to Evan's side and dropped onto the floor beside him. She was so tired of sickness, so tired of fighting something she couldn't understand. Now, she understood it, but that didn't make it easier. If Evan died, knowledge of what killed him wouldn't help her.

Grace moved suddenly to check Evan's condition and realized the room didn't spin like it had for the last few hours. That had to be a good sign. She grabbed the thermometer in her pocket and checked her own temperature. Down by three degrees. She allowed hope to creep back in as she checked Evan's temperature. A quick scan using a hand-held device from Atlantis sent her scrambling for the radio. "Ramirez!"

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Send the transmission as soon as you get there. It works!" She laughed, wishing to dance around the room. As she did so, several of the sick Marines smiled with her. "It works!"

~TBC~


	17. Chapter 17

Their return to Atlantis was bittersweet. Grace sat in the copilot's seat of the Jumper for the flight, having been forced there by Ramirez, Williams, and several well-meaning Marines. They all knew about her relationship with Major Lorne. Those who didn't know all the details were told by Ramirez as Evan tried to bean him in the head with anything he could find to throw. Grace had sat back, laughing as the recovering men joked with each other from their cots. When she'd heard Evan laugh, tears filled her eyes, and she felt joy down to her toes.

The control room of Atlantis cheered when they made it through the gate. Signs of their ordeal were apparent, but they were home and healthy. Evan looked a lot thinner, and Grace knew she'd lost weight in the last few weeks.

Keller met them in the Jumper bay with stretchers for the few Marines slowly recovering. The antidote that Grace had created was easy to synthesize, and they had distributed it to Neera and her people as soon as they had enough. Even though he'd been weak, Evan had made his way through the sick, administering the antidote and smiles to everyone he could. Grace liked this side of him. Not many people saw it when he was being the second-in-command to Atlantis' ranking military officer.

After a stop in the infirmary, where Jennifer told them to take it easy for a week, Grace, Evan, Ramirez, Williams, Sheppard, Ronon, Teyla, McKay, and Wools, gathered for a briefing. Woolsey looked at each of them. "First, let me say it's good to have Major Lorne's team and Dr. Edgington back with us."

Evan stirred from his place beside Grace. "Thank you, Sir. It's good to be back."

Woolsey turned away. "Colonel, you found something you wanted to share?"

"Yeah." Sheppard leaned forward, his sharp eyes not missing how Evan draped his arm along the back of Grace's chair. He glanced between the two but didn't comment on the familiarity of the action. "We found your scientist."

Grace blinked. "Where?"

"On a Genii entrenched world where Lorne and his team were shot up pretty bad." Sheppard's eyes twinkled as Evan straightened suddenly. "Yeah, Major, we found the guy who shot you. We also found the guy who killed Miller and all those people. He's not too happy with what we did to him."

Grace narrowed her eyes. "What did you do to him?"

Ronon actually grinned. "Put him in a deep, dark hole."

Sheppard took over the briefing again. "Let's just say he won't be infecting any more planets with mutated viruses." He sat back in his chair. "Oh, and we found that Ancient tech McKay sent your team to recover, Major. He's been having fits ever since we brought it back."

"Fits?" McKay chimed in. "Do you have any idea what this thing does?"

"No, not really."

"Of course you don't. Because _you're_ not the galaxy's leading expert on Ancient technology." McKay turned as if to continue the discussion.

Evan held up a hand. "Doc, my head is still about to explode from Grace's explanation of the mutated virus a few days ago. No more until I get over the headache that caused." Grace kicked him under the table, and he jumped. "What was that for?"

Sheppard snickered as Woolsey brought the discussion back to more sobering matters. "Major, I received your request to accompany Lieutenant Miller's body home." He looked at Grace. "And I believe you would like to go as well."

"Yes." Grace saw the glance between Sheppard and Ronon. She didn't care. "Lt. Miller and I were friends in high school."

Woolsey nodded. "Permission granted. You'll each have two weeks leave on Earth."

Evan nodded. "Thank you, Sir."

The briefing broke up after that, and Grace left the table a bit ahead of Evan. He followed her out the door, and she realized Sheppard was waiting for them. Rather than asking any questions, he merely grinned. "Have fun, you two."

SGA SGA SGA SGA

Grace stood outside the door of the flat and knocked. In spite of the late hour, a light still burned inside. She stuck her hands in the pockets of her jacket, not entirely sure of the reception she would receive. A moment later, the porch light came on, and the door opened.

"Grace?" Garrett stared at her, his face so much like hers. He looked around. "What are you doing here?"

"Can't I visit my brother?" She shrugged. "I came home to see you."

"Right." He didn't believe her for a moment. Other than Evan, Garrett was one of the few people who could see whenever she lied. Every time she lied. It became annoying when she wanted to keep something from him. He stepped back. "Come in and sit. I'll make some of that coffee you like."

Grace walked inside, enjoying the warmth and familiarity of this place. This was where she came when she finished a long assignment. Here, she painted, laughed, cried, and healed. After yesterday's duties, she needed the healing more than she realized. So, she left Evan in San Francisco and flew to England. He'd understood. As he kissed her goodbye, he said he would see her soon. Grace hoped he meant it.

Garrett didn't speak, letting her decompress in her own time. A sketch pad lay on the table, a new concept he'd apparently dreamed up being fleshed out. Grace smiled at the sketch pad. She longed to pick up the pencil and begin another sketch of a different kind, but Garrett was territorial about his work. Instead, she sat in the chair across from him and sipped her coffee.

He eyed her. "What happened?" He looked her over. "I knew something was up, but I couldn't get in touch with you. You've lost weight, and you've got a sad look in your eye."

"Have you ever questioned what you wanted to be?" She waited until he shook his head. "I have. I _am_. I just don't know that I can do relief work anymore. It's too hard." To her credit, her voice didn't crack. She'd also held herself together after returning Jason's body to his family. After that visit, Evan held her until she cried herself to sleep. Now, she waited for her brother's reaction.

"Grace, what happened?" His tone told her that she'd better spill the beans and be done with it.

"Remember Jason Miller?" She set the coffee cup down. "He's dead."

That hit her brother hard. "How?"

"Some mutated disease someone thought it would be cool to mess with." Grace heard how Evan's influence had already impacted her speech pattern. "With the military involved, I can't tell you much more than that."

Garrett closed the sketch pad. "You were there."

"Yes, and it wasn't pretty." She squeezed her eyes shut, willing the image of Evan's form on that cot out of her head. She had worked to forget that day, worked to see him as he was now. But it kept coming back. She kept thinking that she was happy she hadn't buried him.

~TBC~


	18. Chapter 18

The next morning, Grace woke slowly. She'd fallen into bed late, and her exhaustion sent her into the deepest sleep she'd experienced since going to Atlantis. Now, as she stretched luxuriously, she wondered what this day would hold. She already missed Evan's sparkling blue eyes and dry wit. She couldn't forget him so easily.

After she dressed, Grace made her way down the stairs and paused. Voices came from the kitchen, lowered in order not to disturb her. She frowned. Someone had arrived, and she'd slept through it. She must have been tired. Curious, she listened, trying to discern the identity of her brother's guest.

Garrett sighed as a chair scraped on the linoleum floor. "What really happened?"

"She nearly died." Evan's voice caused Grace to blink. "You wouldn't have known by the way she worked through it, but she couldn't have been in better condition than me. She saved my life." His voice trailed off, and tears came to Grace's eyes. Evan spoke again, "She saved a lot of lives."

Could she really give that up? She stared at the kitchen door. If she gave up her work with Atlantis, she'd never see Evan Lorne again. While he seemed happy to visit earth, he wasn't meant to be here. His calling had taken him to another galaxy to help people he didn't know. If Evan cared that much about people he didn't know, how deeply would he care for her? Could she turn her back on that kind of love?

Tired of contemplating these thoughts, Grace forced her feet to move. She stepped around the corner and took in the sight of Evan and Garrett across from each other. Had Evan been given to tension, he would have been sitting straight up in the chair. As it was, Grace could see the tightness around his mouth. She didn't know whether to laugh or scowl. "Evan? What are you doing here?"

Garrett gave Evan a pointed look and left the table. A minute later, Grace heard the door to his studio close. "Ev?"

"I'm sorry to barge in like this." Evan stood and came to stand across from her.

She walked into his arms, enjoying the safety and comfort there. "I'm not upset." She leaned back just enough to look at him. "I'm glad you're here."

His smile appeared, along with his dimples. "You were pretty upset yesterday."

"I was." She sobered. "I was thinking about not going back. Doing what we did in that village took almost everything out of me. I just don't know that I have what it takes to do that kind of work anymore. Here, on earth, I can still be a doctor, and I can still work for the program."

"Don't stay here," he whispered. "Come back with me. Give me a reason to come back safely when I go on missions, a friend to paint with, someone to tell me jokes, and a person who fills that place that I didn't even know was empty until now." He dropped his hands from around her waist and pulled a small box from his pocket. "Marry me."

The proposal was so direct, so like the Major Lorne she'd first met. Grace stared at the large diamond solitaire and tried to breathe. Her mind went back to the night when she thought she would lose him. She knew what "for better or worse" was. She'd lived through "in sickness and in health." She understood "til death do us part." Her eyes went back to his, tears standing in them. "Yes." She choked on her tears. "I'll come back. I'll give you a reason to come home safely, a friend to paint with, a person to tell you bad jokes, and I'll fill that place you didn't know was missing."

SGA SGA SGA SGA

A year later, Dr. Grace Edgington became Dr. Grace Lorne. She and Evan were married at sunset on the western pier of Atlantis. The entire expedition showed up for the wedding, plus a few extra guests. As she walked down the aisle in a long white sheath dress, she spotted two little Graces and one little Evan from Neera's planet. That woman stood next to Teyla, her version of wedding finery not quite as refined as the rest, and smiled with everything in her. Mothers bounced new babies, and fathers nodded gratefully. John Sheppard was best man, and Jennifer Keller was the maid of honor. Richard Woolsey officiated and did a wonderful job.

At the reception, Grace smiled for the requisite pictures and thought about life. She was so glad she came back. She and Evan had plans that didn't always include the military, but neither of them could imagine leaving Atlantis.

The time for the wedding toasts came, and Grace squirmed when Sheppard stood next to Evan. He held up his champagne flute. "Well, I guess we all know what fate had in store when Dr. Keller recruited Dr. Edgington to come to Atlantis." Chuckles bounced around the room. "I know no one ever really knows what they're getting into when they say 'I do.' I know I didn't. But, these two faced death together and came through it together. Here's to many happy years with each other."

"Hear, hear!" The cheers bounced around the room.

Jennifer stood up. "I'm not really good at these things." She looked around nervously. "When Grace told me she was seeing Major Lorne, I was stunned. Then, she asked me to be her maid of honor. I still don't know why." She turned to her friend. "But I'm glad you did. To Grace and the man who made her happier than I've ever seen her."

"Hear, hear!" Another round of cheers echoed. Grace laughed at Evan's wry comments on wedding attire, bounced her two namesakes on her knees, accepted many handmade gifts from another planet, and danced with her new husband for two hours. Later that evening, as they left the reception, the Atlantis expedition tossed rice at them.

They were escorted to a Puddle Jumper, and Grace burst into laughter again when she saw the inside. A pallet had been left in the floor. "Let me guess. Ronon?"

"Yeah." Evan grinned at her. "From what I understand, this is what Satedans do for a wedding. Trying to explain best men, groomsmen, bridesmaids, and such to him was rather amusing."

"I can imagine."

He slid into the pilot's seat while she sat next to him. The gate had been dialed, and well-wishers filled the control room. Their honeymoon would take place on an idyllic world Evan had found in his travels, one far from disease or death. Grace smiled and held his hand as he guided the Jumper through the gate. No matter what the future held, they would always have each other.

END

**Author's Note**: So, I'm a sap and like to wrap up happy endings with scenes like this. But, there it is. The story of Grace and Evan was mostly written before I decided to post, hence the reason it seemed to happen so fast. But, nonetheless, it's written, and I can move on to other projects. Like Atlantis Prelude. If you liked this story-or loved it-review. Let me know. I look forward to hearing from you.


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